Eddie Jordan has died at the age of 76, his family announced on Thursday. Former F1 team boss Jordan revealed last year that he was battling with cancer.
Jordan’s eponymous squad joined the F1 grid in 1991 and gave a debut to Michael Schumacher, ultimately a seven-time world champion, at the Belgian Grand Prix.
They entered 250 races in total, winning four of them and collecting 19 podiums. Jordan sold the team in 2005.
Their place was filled by Midlands, then Spyker and then Force India. Aston Martin are the most recent descendants.
While Schumacher only appeared once for Jordan, they fielded a number of legendary drivers. The list includes Rubens Barrichello, Damon Hill and Eddie Irvine.
Damon Hill recalls the ‘test of my life’ with Eddie Jordan
Hill raced for Jordan during the final two seasons of his F1 career in 1998 and 1999. He was responsible for their first-ever win at the 1998 Belgian GP.
But he’d been inextricably linked to Jordan at the outset of his career. Speaking on the Formula for Success podcast just last week, he recalled the Irishman’s role in his first significant single-seater test.
Hill explained that Jordan wanted a combination of ‘cash and speed’ from any driver before backing them. Fortunately, the youngster was able to put up the funds for ‘the opportunity of a lifetime’.
| CATEGORY | VOL. |
| Races | 250 |
| Seasons | 15 |
| Wins | 4 |
| Pole positions | 2 |
| Podiums | 19 |
| Points | 291 |
Jordan ‘never’ let him forget these events even as he won the world championship with Williams in 1996. Hill laughed about their different versions of the story as he spoke to David Coulthard.
“Eddie had come from Ireland and set up his team and he’d got a reputation,” Hill said. “He was angling for any driver with cash and speed. That was the criteria.
“If you had cash, that was a good thing, he’d take that. I got a test with him. In his version of events, he gave me the test of my life, the opportunity of a lifetime.
“I seem to remember something like £2,000 for 20 laps, maybe it was £20,000. I can’t remember. It seemed to be a lot of money in the day. He’s never let me forget it.”
Martin Brundle’s message to ‘rock star’ Eddie Jordan after his death
Schumacher reminded Jordan of Ayrton Senna in his first test before his F1 debut. The German’s lap times left the garage in disbelief.
Jordan played a crucial role in the ascent of multiple world champions and remained active in the sport after selling his team. He was a pundit for BBC and Channel 4, and also managed his close friend Adrian Newey.
Last year, he negotiated Newey’s move to Aston Martin as managing technical partner. The legendary designer had resigned from his post at Red Bull in the spring.
Martin Brundle paid tribute to Jordan on Thursday, describing him as ‘ a character’, ‘a rock star’ and ‘a racer’. The messages will continue to pour in during the Chinese Grand Prix weekend.
