Eddie Jordan Could Sell Up

Eddie Jordan has revealed he could sell his team to a major investor in the near future after admitting he is “not prepared to continue like this” following a season of struggle at the back of the grid.

Jordan has taken a huge fall in the last few years and, after challenging for the championship with German Heinz-Harald Frentzen in 1999, they are now scrapping with perennial backmarkers Minardi.

The forlorn team chief â€" who recently lost an estimated $5 million (US Dollars) fighting a court case with Vodafone â€" has now admitted that enough could be enough and declared himself open for offers.

"There is an argument which suggests I might be better off flogging off a good chunk of the business to a manufacturer," Jordan said. "I have to face up to reality soon and ask if that is the best way or not.

"I could have done it in 1997 and sold out to Honda but I felt I would have been letting a lot of people down. But I'm open to speaking to a major car manufacturer about participation.”

Major car manufacturers have left private teams like Jordan trailing in recent years after pumping huge amounts of money into the sport and taking performance to new levels.

Mercedes and BMW have helped partner teams McLaren and Williams fight a strong challenge to Ferrari for this year’s world championship while Renault, Jaguar and Toyota are all making their way steadily up the Grand Prix grid.

Jordan recognises that an alliance with a major motor manufacturer is the only way to be competitive in the modern Formula One and he is keen to secure a deal which could put his team back on track.

He sold 40 percent of the team to investment company Warburg Pincus in 1999, when Jordan were in the top three in the world championship, and he suggested that they are now keen to sell off their stake.

"Any new investor would be a replacement for Warburgs,” he told the Ireland on Sunday. “That would depend on Warburgs looking for an exit, which they would probably want depending on the price.

“So, there is an opportunity to gain their minority shares and if there is a proper manufacturer who wants a majority stake then you would take the difference up with me."

Wild speculation has arisen in the past few weeks that Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich was looking to add to his acquisition of the Chelsea football team by buying into a Formula One outfit.

The financial difficulties currently encountered by both Jordan and rivals Minardi mean that they could be the likely targets as they are two of only three non-manufacturer teams in the sport.

Jordan are currently suffering with a car that is both slow and unreliable and other than Giancarlo Fisichella's lucky victory in Brazil the team have scored just one point this season for Ralph Firman’s eighth place in Barcelona in May.

They are currently in negotiations with Cosworth over an engine deal for next year but the Ford-owned company are reluctant to drop the price to the “affordable” $10 million (Dollars) that Jordan requires.