With the sad news of former F1 team boss Eddie Jordan’s passing on 20th March, we thought we’d pay tribute to him. Over the last few years he’s been co-hosting the Formula for Success (FFS) podcast with David Coulthard.
The absolute loveable rascal, wheeler-dealer, endless energy of Jordan was more than apparent listening to that.
Everyone clearly loved the guy, even when he’d fleeced them of money at some point or outdone them in a deal. Jordan epitomises the exact type of extreme character that can excel in the brutal world of F1, yet did it all with a huge dollop of charisma.
Eddie Jordan and Mastering the Formula for Success
Above is the podcast, with snippets available on YouTube, which has been very popular. David Coulthard is a former F1 driver, but didn’t drive for Eddie Jordan’s team at any point.
These two spent most episodes mercilessly mocking each other in that way great bloke friends do where they clearly love each other. Sparring partners, essentially, and a great combination—one Scot and an Irish dude.
Jordan’s business capacity was relentless.
We listen to the excellent BBV10’s podcast from The Race team. Many of the episodes focus on the early to mid-1990s, during which time the Jordan team was finding its feet in the sport (having arrived in 1991).
Almost constantly across each episode documenting that period, Jordan is in the middle of some insane business deal he’s triggered off with his wild ideas. Amazingly, a lot of them worked out.
Famously, Jordan also talent spotted Michael Schumacher and gave the German driver his debut at Spa-Francorchamps later in their debut year. That was after a bizarre incident with regular driver Bertrand Gachot, who’d had an altercation with a London cab driver and was in jail. That was after spraying the cabbie with CS gas in self-defence.
And it’s that sort of madness that came to define Jordan’s F1 career.
Not least the, quite frankly, insane F1 August 1998 Spa-Francorchamps race. As recalled here by DC (who contributed enormously to Jordan’s win) and one of Jordan’s drivers. Mr. Ralf Schumacher (Michael’s brother).
Our first full season of F1 was 1999 and that’s when things really took off.
Having signed Williams reject Heinz-Harald Frentzen, his career in tatters after not gelling with the title winning team, that’s when our love for Jordan really kicked off. Across 1999 the team launched an incredible underdog success story, with Frentzen mounting an unexpected title challenge.
Everything came to at head at the legendary Nürburgring 1999 GP, with Frentzen having just won at Monza. He promptly took pole and led the first half of the race, only for his Jordan to grind to a halt after a pitstop.
Still one of the most agonising sporting moments in history.
The Jordan story gradually went downhill from there, but those peaks were remarkable for an independent team. Using all his cunning and wile, Eddie Jordan turned a small team into a near frontrunner! Can’t be underestimated just how amazing that was.
As the sport became more corporate and major manufacturers took over, there was little chance for Jordan and its diddy budget to continue its ascendancy. The team boss realised that and sold the team in 2005.
After that he wowed everyone with his punditry skills presenting F1 on the BBC, before shifting into hosting the FFS podcast with DC. Those two taking the piss out of each other every episode has been a delight to listen to.
DC wrote this on Instagram:
“Eddie Jordan was a force to be reckoned with beyond what anyone could expect in Formula 1. He was a gift to Formula 1 and he was a gift to Ireland. You never knew quite where his madness would take you next, but you always got there with a smile on your face. There will be endless people telling Eddie Jordan stories as long as there is still Formula 1 around. It has been an honour calling him and friend & all of our love to his family & his four children, Mikki, Zoe, Kyle, and Zak.”
We’re not sure what Coulthard plans for Formula for Success, it may well come to an end. In many ways that’d be a fitting tribute to Jordan’s gregarious spirit—irreplaceable.
Bring Back V10’s Eddie Jordan Tribute
The Race team reacted quickly and published the above video late in the week. It’s a fun insight into what made Jordan so special as a team:
- Opportunistic
- Fun loving
- Underdogs
- Talent spotters
- Have a go heroes
They had a habit of scoring big results during difficult races (often in the rain) as they were willing to take risks other teams didn’t dare. That opportunism is what helped the team stick around in F1, whereas other newcomers fell by the wayside and shut down.
Eddie Jordan was a wheeler-dealer extraordinaire, but could also spot young driver talent.
Michael Schumacher, Jean Alesi, Rubens Barrichello, Eddie Irvine, Giancarlo Fisichella—all got their shot in the sport thanks to Jordan’s backing. Plus, he could pick out when a driver wasn’t finished.
For us, Eddie Jordan’s realisation he could bag Frentzen at the end of 1998 was his golden moment.
For all the other team bosses, the perception was a demoralised driver not worth the bother. For EJ, he saw the potential that could be unlocked (and all at a much cheaper price than several years earlier).
That 1999 season will stick with us forever—our first full season of F1 viewing. Jordan and Frentzen there at the front, the ultimate underdogs, so very nearly winning the title.
