Eddie would have raced at Jordan for nothing

Valve Bounce · 26 Jan 2003, 00:27 (Ref:486001)

I am sorry to start a new thread regarding Eddie's departure, but I think this is sufficiently different from the Eddie quits F1 thread to deserve separate dscussion on its own merit. This is what Eddie said:

Quote:

"From the start money has never been the issue. I have always tried to earn a reasonable wage from the sport but when a team has no money in the kitty it become a pointless exercise,” he revealed to the Sun. “I know there were people thinking I was seeking a 'pension drive' by going to Jordan but nothing could be further from the truth. I wanted to drive for them and prove a few things to a few people. Jordan would not have had to have paid me a bean. I was prepared to look for personal sponsorship and to sell space on my overalls and a small part of the car. I could not have been fairer than that. The one thing which I wasn't going to do was to pay the team for the drive. That was never on."

All I can ask at this stage is "what the hell went wrong with the negotiations?" Surely if B&H were willing to bring more to the Jordan table as prime team sponsor if Eddie was their driver (and they fully expected Eddie to be) then something went dreadfully wrong. One must ask whether EJ is so far into the red that unless someone came out with 3 million quid in hard cash up front, then Jordan would not see out the season. Or did EJ simply not want Eddie in his small team as he already had a very good driver in Fisi, and didn't want Edie Irvine to destabilise the Jordan team. A myriad of questions float through my mind, with no answers coming forth. Could it be that Niki had already provided the answer when he fired Eddie Irvine?

bosch! · 26 Jan 2003, 01:49 (Ref:486074)

Obviously all is not as has been described by irvine, or if it is then EJ doesnt wants him to drive for them even for free. Irvines "free" could have meant for example that the additional B&H money would have become his "personal sponsorship".

I suspect that EI has been rejected because EJ has the finance in place & intends to announce soon. Its a case of i dumped him, he didnt dump me.

Armco Bender · 26 Jan 2003, 08:50 (Ref:486221)

Eddie Irvine was certainally the most talented driver available to fill the seat.What do Jordan hope to gain by running Massa,when Irvine is faster and can set up a car?,Obviouslly its either some personal conflict or Jordan are still desperate for the money to keep going.

wreckless · 26 Jan 2003, 10:22 (Ref:486245)

You would think that you would want irvine over massa when traction becomes so much harder to get

f1manoz · 26 Jan 2003, 11:01 (Ref:486271)

*cough* BULL**** EDDIE! *cough*

**Aysedasi** · 26 Jan 2003, 11:45 (Ref:486315)

Perhaps he just isnt good enough...........

Tristan · 26 Jan 2003, 15:08 (Ref:486498)

I think the "negotiations collapsed" when Eddie Jordan realised how much more money Amssa would bring to the team. These are desparate times.

Super Tourer · 26 Jan 2003, 18:34 (Ref:486626)

I don't think EJ wanted to supply another 'retirement home' for a driver in his twilight years.

Sure cash is a primary factor, but if we believe all we read Red Bull are waiting to hand EJ a cheque for the team, so he of he chose to, he could walk away from F1 and count his cash. However we hear he is not ready to do this quite yet, so must have deal's elsewhere.

Massa looks a good choice, strengthen's the Ford connection, exciting to watch, will keep Fizzi awake and scored points as well.

Sato san · 26 Jan 2003, 20:38 (Ref:486724)

Quote:

Originally posted by Super Tourer
I don't think EJ wanted to supply another 'retirement home' for a driver in his twilight years.

i agree with that !.....once bitten and all that .

**gomick** · 27 Jan 2003, 00:20 (Ref:486933)

glad eddie's gone, he wasnt going to achieve anything else in F1

- be good if someone with talent (a young driver) got the ride.... did massa get the ride

- if he did, fair enough!

Valve Bounce · 27 Jan 2003, 22:15 (Ref:487769)

Quote:

It is now believed that Eddie is working hard behind the scenes to try and secure that final seat with the Jordan Grand Prix team even though the Silverstone based squad have stated they are looking at either Ralf Firman or Felipe Massa. An announcement is due this week.

This guy won't lie down.

Wouldn't it be funny if he did end up driving for Jordan

Wrex · 28 Jan 2003, 00:22 (Ref:487857)

I have to laugh at this B&H rumour. Apart from press speculation and forum chatter, has anyone ever read anything official that supports the 'B&H are willing to kick a few bucks in for a British driver' rumour?

This was suggested on a couple of websites and instantly became a fact!

Irvine was a bargaining chip against other drivers. The fact he 'decided' to leave F1 suggests Jordan has made it's decision and will announce shortly.

Look for a suprise name.

Valve Bounce · 29 Jan 2003, 00:12 (Ref:488861)

"I don't think we were close to signing Eddie at all and he was certainly not going to drive for free,” Jordan told the British press. “We have Giancarlo Fisichella who is an expensive driver and we had to look at our budget commercially and build the car for the future and not just for now. Eddie knew what we needed for him to drive, and we just couldn't meet his demands. To be truthful, in the last couple of months I had put him to one side and if it was going to happen then fine, but I was concentrating on other things.”

The saga continues. To be honest, I really don't expect Eddie to be driving a Jordan this year. Somewhere between the quotes from EI and EJ lies a lot that is not being said. Like: " EJ doesn't want Eddie Irvine in his team."

f1manoz · 29 Jan 2003, 01:32 (Ref:488924)

Irvine wouldn't know how to do anything for free.

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