The case for the last Jordan seat

[Skam85]

So who will it be??? That is the $64,000 question.


Jos Verstappen-journeyman with a lot of sponsorship, has a SMALL amount of talent and this will be his last chance in F1 if he gets the seat.

Allan McNish-was unlucky to be saacked by Toyota after a solid rookie season. Deserves a 2nd chance and is a Brit so B&H will love him.

Ralph Firman-had an OK rookie year in an absolute dog of a car in 03 and had some solid drives in Spain and Malaysia. Also deserves a 2nd year to prove himself in what should be a better car in 04. Also a Brit.

Timo Glock-lots of sponsorship dollars like Verstappen but looks to be headed for the testing role at Jordan.


So, who deserves the last Jordan seat?? And, more importantly, who will get the seat??

[GTRMagic]

Jos is out of the frame, Trust and Jordan have stopped talking.

[Stephen Green]

Thats why there are Trust stickers on the Jordan test car then

[Super Tourer]

Depending on what you read, it could pan out like this:

Grandprix.com are mentioning Motoyama and Pantano, the Pantano angle could fit as I believe that his management company recently raised more capital from investors.

The extra input from B&H for a British driver, is rumoured not to be definate. From the branding on the car at launch, 'their' previous areas on the car, sidepods and front wing, were blank (apart from EJ's lazarus logo on the sidepod), which could mean that IF they do increase support by say $6M for a Brit, those areas would become B&H branded again.

However, neither of the rumoured drivers budgets are believed to equal the 'Trust' budget Jos was offering and even the extra B&H input (should it happen)is more or less the same, as a net amount.

Firman is alledged to have paid $5M for his drive last year, funded by a group of investors - should they decide to back him again, I would guess that the backing he could bring for 2004 would be more or less equal to Pantano and Motoyama.

McNish, I think only has his CV and experience to bring, he has never been a funded driver (IIRC), even though Ford may like him, and he has been talking to them direct, I can't see them paying any extra to EJ as a result.

On this basis, it could still be Firman, he may be able to bring some money and B&H may increase their budget on a British presence in the team.

The problem for EJ is that none of the British drivers available to him are sufficient to really excite B&H in to wanting to get behind them with substantially more money.IMO

For their angle on this: http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns12466.html

[JohnMiller]

Get B&H to ask for Wilson!

He tested for Jordan before and impressed.

[Stephen Green]

ST could Ford then reduce the cost of engines to Jordan? If so, assuming B+H up their contribution and Ford reduce engine costs, it could put Allan in a good position?

[davebreen]

Originally posted by JohnMiller
Get B&H to ask for Wilson!

He tested for Jordan before and impressed.

Is there any way that the EJ14 could fit Heidfeld and Wilson or is the height difference too much?

[Super Tourer]

Originally posted by Stephen Green
ST could Ford then reduce the cost of engines to Jordan? If so, assuming B+H up their contribution and Ford reduce engine costs, it could put Allan in a good position?

Ford Marketing (on 2003 budget figs) contributed $7M to Jordan, itemised as 'other support', I think this was part of EJ's complicated deal he arranged with Ford Europe, who were aiming to exploit the Ford RS brand via Jordan.

However, IMO, the Ford branding on the car looked/looks fairly minor for that sort of backing, so after the somewhat ham fisted way the deal was 'launched', maybe Ford have reviewed the amount of branding they want to use.

The customer engine deals are an important cash flow element to Ford and go to prop up Jaguars engine costs, so I can't see they would reduce the bill in order to place a driver at Jordan, who I don't really believe Ford are that serious about as a partner, certainly not in the way EJ allegedly painted the deal at the time.

Jaguar did say they would 'help' Wilson after the Jaguar debacle, but I'm not sure that help extends to parting with any money. If they do want to help, it would be easier and cheaper to smooth a path for him into CART, where Ford supply's all the engines, and could conceivably arrange a small discount on engine bills to a team that ran JW.

With Allan, his chance at Jordan is purely down to his own merits I think.

[Wrex]

Originally posted by Stephen Green
ST could Ford then reduce the cost of engines to Jordan?

Thats the same as paying him to driver really, and Ford just cut Jag's budget, I doubt they would rob Jaguar to pay Jordan.

[Spudgun]

Personally, I think Jordan's best bet would be (financial reasons aside) McNish.

The EJ-13 was a bit of a dog and I think they need someone with a bit of experience to help develop the EJ-14. He has a lot of testing experience with Toyota and Renault.

It's helped them in the past. Damon Hill helped turn the 1998 Jordan into a fairly decent car after a shaky start allowing the victory at Spa, albeit after some of the front-runners crashed. But it was good enough to be in the position to pick up the pieces.

In the end though it will be down to $$$ as always. If B&H really are going to stump up extra cash for a British driver then maybe there is a chance.

[OVERSTEER]

Originally posted by Skam85
So who will it be??? That is the $64,000 question.

I think it'll be alot more money that decides who gets that seat!

[oziengineer]

I reckon either Justin Wilson or Allan Mcnish. They have better driving records than people like verstappen or firman, and they could do well at the former great team.

[Glen]

If he has money I can't see what's wrong with Jos - he'd certainly be better than Firman in my opinion.

[sonic]

IMHO Paying to drive for Jordan would be like paying to end your F1 career.

[Kicking-back]

I think if Allan gets a Jordan seat he'll help drive the team foward a bit - they'll do better than last season (the win in Brazil aside)

[Bridget Stone]

IF jordan will be racing at all, this season. They seem to even be employing child labour to cut the costs:

http://f1.racing-live.com/photos/200.../diapo_173.jpg

love, bridget

[ASCII Man]

Well, F1 is heading to Asia so...

[Kicking-back]

Originally posted by Bridget Stone
IF jordan will be racing at all, this season.

Ah, now Jos is out of contention his fans start this nonsense again.

[BSchneiderFan]

I hope it's McNish, and with the news that Verstappen is out of contention then it may yet be. Firman obviously has a certain claim as the incumbent, but a) he'll need to raise a lot of money again, and b) his rookie year, though solid, wasn't inspirational.

Motoyama seems a distant prospect. No Formula 1 experience, and the wrong side of thirty. If a major Japanese sponsor came along, I suppose it might happen, but I'd be surprised.

Pantano is a good driver but does he have the financial backing? Equally, his career does seem to have plateaued slightly in F3000. Still, the same could have been said of Firman in Formula Nippon until 2003.

Presumably rumours linking Irv the Swerve to the seat have now faded. He could pay for the drive himself, but I think Edmund may be enjoying retirement too much, when he's not a fugitive from justice, of course...

If I had to predict an outcome, I'd say it was pretty much a 50/50 toss-up between Firman and McNish.

But EJ needs to decide soon. Melbourne isn't so very far away.

[Bridget Stone]

Originally posted by Kicking-back
Ah, now Jos is out of contention his fans start this nonsense again.

This was meant as "irony", not "sarcasm".


I wish Jordan all the best, cause i really cant say who's to blame...Some voices suggest that Jos salary-demands were way to high...but history proves that f-1 negogiations are the best kept secret ever,
so we will never know exactly what happened.

love, bridget

[GP Racer]

There are so many drivers out there looking for a seat, that its hard to nail down who it could be.

A couple of drivers that weren't named here, were Yoong, who could keep the Asian market happy and come with Malaysian money,(Eddie loves Asia) and T Bell, who could finally get America involved in F1 again, and make Jordan the sweetheart team for the American fans. Both are outside shots at best, but if they have the cash...

Other than that, I like Wilson, McNish, and Firman equally. I'm actually disappointed that Firman couldn't hold the seat, as I thought he did rather well against Fisi. Was it a money thing?

[FIRE]

Originally posted by Kicking-back
Ah, now Jos is out of contention his fans start this nonsense again.

Are you German? :confused:

[esorniloc]

What about Björn Wirdheim???? - He is the F3000 champ and should be in F1.

[FIRE]

Originally posted by esorniloc
What about Björn Wirdheim???? - He is the F3000 champ and should be in F1.

Will he be not Jaguar's testdriver?

[bosch!]

How did Glock get himself so much seat time? Does anybody know if he is scheduled to be in spain with Jordan next week. I'd like to see Wilson in the seat but an important point was made earlier about the development work that Damon did with the 1998 car. DH was so under rated for many things. If a driver has never had the experience of driving and improving an excelent car they really dont know what they are aiming for. So for that reason I would go for McNish.