Eddie Jordan has revealed how he learned plenty of F1 lessons over the years from former supremo Bernie Ecclestone.

Ecclestone was recently honoured with a 75th Anniversary Trophy at the Autosport Awards in London, paying tribute to his six-decade involvement in motorsport.

Bernie Ecclestone ‘the hardest-nosed b*stard’ on the planet

Ecclestone hasn’t been in charge of Formula 1 for several years, following the sale of the sport’s commercial rights to Liberty Media in 2017. But, prior to this, Ecclestone ruled F1 with an iron grip, having formed a formidable partnership with former FIA president Max Mosley.

This grip on Formula 1 saw Ecclestone transform the sport from a popular, if niche, sporting endeavour into a multi-billion dollar industry and sport – resulting in the British businessman being honoured in a ceremony at the Awards led by Martin Brundle.

The 94-year-old was presented with a scale model trophy of Giuseppe Farina’s Alfa Romeo 158, the car that claimed victory in the first-ever Formula 1 World Championship round in 1950, with the award presented by Piero Ferrari – son of the late Enzo Ferrari.

Ecclestone’s appearance on stage was discussed by former F1 Grand Prix winner David Coulthard and team boss Eddie Jordan on the Formula For Success podcast this week, with Coulthard recounting a story Ecclestone had told while on stage.

“I’m going to imagine you [Eddie Jordan] were in the segment when he was asked, Did he have any regrets?” Coulthard laughed as he poked fun at his co-host.

“He said, ‘I’ve made so many mistakes, not one stands out!’ that he wanted to share.

“But he did share a little tidbit about Frank Williams, where he said that, in the early days of Williams Grand Prix Engineering, Frank was always at him saying, ‘Can I borrow 5000’ and always doing the lagging of extra money that I know you used to have to do when you ran Jordan.

“Then he made the reference to the fact that, as soon as he gave money to Frank, he then headed off to the King’s Road to buy some cashmere jumpers!

“So he was suggesting that Frank wasn’t actually spending it all on the race team. Now, when you were asking Bernie for some upfront money, did every single penny go into the race team?”

Jordan laughed back, “Of course not. Don’t be silly! Why would I answer that?!”

The Irishman, known for being a tough businessman himself, revealed how he had discovered plenty of Ecclestone’s tricks and tips during his time as an F1 team boss between 1991 and 2004.

“Getting money out of Bernie was no easy task,” Jordan said.

“But, generally speaking, he would ask for figures. He’d say, ‘Look, Eddie, you need five thousand’ but mine was 5 million or 3 million or 2 million! So it used to catch his breath a little bit.

“You see the difference between Frank Williams in those days was that there was very little money coming from, if you like, the team principals. Frank was there at the forefront of that. We must remember he was a very leading light in that area.

“But, in my day, we were due money and we would get paid the following year. And I was looking for an advance.

“Bernie’s idea of an advance was yes, but it came with a little caveat, which was a 10 percent charge. Now, I suppose nowadays financially, 10 percent is not that much, but in those early days, it was a fortune. But nevertheless, he took his money.

“You knew what you were getting yourself into. You never quibbled. Otherwise, you shouldn’t go there. You took your pain or your profit, whichever it was.”

More on F1 2025

👉 F1 2025 driver line-up: Who is confirmed for the 2025 grid?

👉 Ranked: The F1 2025 driver line-up pairings from weakest to strongest

Despite this toughness, Jordan said he would only “speak volumes” about Ecclestone’s character.

“Yes, he’s the toughest, hardest-nosed bastard ever created on this planet. But I learned so much from him,” he said.

“I’d have to say that a major part of my fabric and my characteristic in terms of how I ran a team, is directly a result of what I learned and grew up in the company of him.

“I became his reasonably close friend. We used to go to the football up to Chelsea together. He was notorious. He’d pay for nothing. We’d get the bus there. We’d take the bus back to number 14 outside the door.

“You can’t imagine the fortunes he’s got, but yet, he just was so goddamn grounded. Slavica was his wife most of the time that I was around, and what a grounded lady she was. She was from Croatia, and she was just an absolute classic.”

Ecclestone was and is a divisive character, having expressed admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin and the leadership of US President Donald Trump in recent years. Ecclestone’s expression of admiration of Putin – whom Ecclestone claimed he would “take a bullet for” – resulted in F1 moving to distance itself from him following his comments expressing support for Putin.

With Ecclestone saying that Putin commencing military action in neighoring Ukraine “wasn’t intentional”, it led Lewis Hamilton to comment on the matter.

“We don’t need any more of it, to hear from someone that believes in the war, and the displacement of people and killing of people, and supporting that person (Putin) is beyond me,” said Hamilton.

“I cannot believe I heard that.

“This is going to put us back decades, and we have yet to see the real brunt of the pain.

“Why? We do not need to be supporting that but looking into the future.

“If you don’t have anything positive to contribute, don’t give them any space.”

Ecclestone has been critical of Hamilton in recent years, and also suggested that Hamilton should have “brushed aside” racist comments that were made about him by former F1 driver Nelson Piquet last year.

This week, Ecclestone has made headlines again for being critical of Hamilton, suggesting that the now-Ferrari man is “tired and unmotivated” and “won’t last two years” at the Scuderia.

Commenting on Hamilton’s dress sense and off-track interests, Ecclestone told the UK’s Telegraph that “Lewis gets himself up front in a way where you can dislike him.

“How a guy who has won a few world titles and has a few dollars in the bank can dress the way he dresses… I’m not a fan of that. He has a lot of talent as a driver.

“As much as people credit him with? No, but still enough to win races. I don’t know why he does all this other nonsense. He needs to get out of the music business and whatever else.”

Read Next: No nude calendars but Valtteri Bottas remains off the leash at Mercedes