Christmas 'Scrooge' Jordan Confident of Improvement

Team owner Eddie Jordan unveiled his new Formula One car and, probably for the first time in his life, was revealed as a party-pooper on Tuesday.

He was confident that Jordan, armed with a works Honda engine in 2001, would do better than the disappointing sixth place overall of last season.

"This is our chance. If we blow it this time, you can blame us," he said.

The Irishman, famed for his love of parties and showbusiness as well as the gift of the gab and a sharp business brain, held a low-key launch for the EJ11 car at his team's Silverstone headquarters.

A video was shown after the car was wheeled out on stage with factory employees talking about the 2000 season and how they felt about working for the team.

One revealed how let down he had felt when Jordan cancelled the Christmas party last year.

"Everyone felt betrayed but kind of understood when we all came back," he said.

Party Plans

But Jordan was unrepentant about his unlikely new image as a Christmas Scrooge.

"I didn't think that it was appropriate," he said of the party. "We all had to be realistic, in life you get what you pay for. The fact was the team didn't perform."

Jordan said a party would have given out the wrong message and might have been seen as complacency just as a lower key launch, following high-profile shows in London in previous years, was also more appropriate.

"I'm perhaps old-fashioned in a way. I like to give credit when it's done and done right."

But there was good news for staff: "I anticipate having a Christmas party for a week this year," he declared.

Jordan said the 1999 season, when the team finished third behind Ferrari and McLaren, remained the benchmark and the performance level to aim for.

"I do not believe there is a better two-car driver line-up currently in the field of Formula One," he said of Italian Jarno Trulli and German Heinz-Harald Frentzen.

New Technical Director

The drivers were the only ones, apart from McLaren's and Ferrari's, to qualify on the front row in 2000 but unreliability and bad luck scuppered their hopes of winning races in a season monopolised by the top two teams.

"It was a pretty dismal year," said Jordan.

"The unreliability of the car strangled us. I will never let that happen again."

Jordan lost technical director Mike Gascoyne halfway through the season after he agreed to move to the Benetton team at a time when Jordan was deep in engine negotiations with Honda.

Jordan announced on Tuesday that Iranian Egbahl Hamidy would be joining from Arrows in February, far earlier than expected, as Gascoyne's replacement.

"I believe we can get back to where we were, third and fighting and winning some races," said Jordan.

"I don't want to say I'll be happy with that or not, it depends on the format and the structure. I don't want to win if people are falling out of races.

"It's vitally important that we really get on right from the beginning and take the fight to them."