By Luke Pons
The legacy of Eddie Jordan will live forever. There is more to the man than many reading this article will realise.
The news broke yesterday morning.
Eddie Jordan, known for his larger-than-life personality and deep impact on F1, died peacefully in Cape Town on March 20, surrounded by his loved ones.
Eddie Jordan founded his own F1 team in 1991, leading it to four victories before selling it in 2005. He famously gave Michael Schumacher his debut at the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix, launching the career of a driver who would go on to win seven world championships.
In 1993 a young Brazilian Rubens Barrichello was handed his f1 debut by Jordan and in 1994 he rewarded the team with its first pole position at the Belgium GP and later that year achieved the team’s first ever podium at the 1994 Pacific GP in Japan.
However, the big moment finally came at the 1998 Belgium GP. Micheal Schumacher crashed out in his Ferrari after colliding with David Coulthard’s McLaren, the Jordan drivers found themselves running one-two. 1996 World Champion Damon Hill lead the line and won Jordan’s first race for the team. The team order of Ralf Schumacher to not overtake Hill caused a stir in the paddock, with his brother Micheal unhappy with the decision.
In 1999 German driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen joined Jordan and in that year rewarded the team with two wins at the Italian and French GP, becoming the team’s most successful driver in terms of wins for the team.
The final bit of glory for Eddie’s team came in 2003 where Giancarlo Fisichella won the 2003 Brazilian GP, giving the team its fourth and final victory.
In early 2005, Jordan Grand Prix was bought by the Midland group financed by Canadian businessman Alex Shnaider
Jordan’s f1 journey did not end there, he worked upon multiple other roles within the sport. He served as the manager for British aerodynamicist and car designer Adrian Newey. Jordan helped negotiate Newey’s move from Red Bull Racing to Aston Martin in 2024. In 2009 Jordan retuned to the f1 scene as a pundit for BBC sport’s grand prix programme. He moved to channel 4 in 2016 where he still worked right up until his passing. He also wrote for magazines and worked on his own series Eddie Jordan bad boy racers.
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The tributes have been flooding in from all the teams across the community, with Aston Martin even going as far as adding a touching tribute to Eddie Jordan emblazoned on their car at the Chinese Grand Prix this weekend.
Eddie dedicated his whole life to F1 in and out of the paddock and is going to be heavily missed by the F1 community.
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