Jaguar Not for Sale, Says Ford

The Ford-owned Jaguar Racing team are not for sale, the company's group vice president Richard Parry-Jones revealed on Thursday.

Strong but unsubstantiated rumours in the British press claimed that Red Bull boss Dietrich Mateschitz was in talks with Ford's top-level management. But the American company has shot down the rumours once and for all that the motor giant is on the verge of pulling out of the project.

"Ford Motor Company management is not in negotiations and is not planning on the sale of Jaguar Racing," said Parry-Jones, who is largely responsible for Ford's Formula One commitments.

The Jordan team announced a major engine supply deal with Ford for 2003 at the Hungarian Grand Prix last weekend, and the confirmation of strongly developed rumours enhanced claims that the Jaguar Formula One project would be dropped.

Jordan will run with Ford's blue oval on the side of their car next year, but it is not a full works deal, and is understood to involve a complicated commercial tie-up between team sponsors and Ford.

The small Silverstone-based team have scored seven points this year compared to Jaguar's three and, to many, the deal suggested Ford's Formula One programme would eventually switch to Jordan, currently using Honda units.

Jaguar made their debut in 2000 but have failed to live up to expectations. Although the funding from Ford is understood not to be as large as rival manufacturer-backed teams, the performances have been far from satisfactory.

Much of the budget being made up from sponsors, but after a continued lack of results during their three years in the sport, Ford chiefs were left divided over the worth of Formula One. It is now likely that Ford will work with Jaguar for at least the next year while providing some funding to Jordan before deciding which team to back in the long term.

A source close to the United States motoring giant said: "That is certainly a long-term option and it makes perfect business sense."