Eddie Jordan Q&A

"Yes, two cars finished, so it was better. One was in the points, and the other one, but for a little mistake, should have been in the points."



"I don't know at the moment. It was a good sign, so let's go to Silverstone and keep our pecker up. A couple of seasons ago we were going to Silverstone without a point, so we're not in grim shape like that. But it's very frustrating, because I think there is the potential. We need to build up, we need to make the car better, and we need to make the engine better, we need to make the whole package better."



"Jarno is like Michael. Michael is exceptional in qualifying, and I think Jarno is too. If you saw Heinz's race pace in France, he was very strong. The problem was he didn't stop in the right spot at the pit stop, and when it's difficult to get the hose on, you lose a few seconds. And then that costs you a point at the end. But it's not just the point you lose, it's the point you're giving to your close rivals."



"I don't know. Everyone else was lapped [in France], but there is a gap between the top three and Jordan. What's happened is there was always a gap between the top two and Jordan, and they've now been joined by Williams."



"There are a variety of things. It's home territory, there are all the parties, and it's also the pressure. There are a lot more Irish people who are able to make it, because it's holiday time and it's not expensive to get there. Silverstone has been my home I suppose since the seventies, and you don't forget 25 or so years of your life. You build up a lot of good friends, people that supported me from the very beginning, when no one else would. Silverstone has been fantastic."



"It actually really means a lot, mainly because a lot of it was done against the odds. The reality is I really think that probably Jordan shouldn't be here. But it is, and it has great will from the people, motor racing fans. Jordan has a rightful spot in F1 now; it's liked by a different type of person. We haven't taken fans from other teams, we have generated new fans, I think. And we've done it in our own little style. We've not wavered, although people told us that we were not serious. There have been a lot of uncomplimentary remarks, the press have been quite tough on us, but generally I think they've been very fair. However, I don't think that we'd be in this position had the press not been attracted to us in the early days."



"You better ask her that! Sometimes you can look at it and think, Jesus, I've been selfish. I've stolen the time from myself. I spend a huge amount of time on the road, I often have to go to Japan or America or wherever to do something. I'm always out at company golf days or speaking at some sponsor function. But it does have its repercussions in that you're not always at home. Sometimes life has to be a compromise. Marie can accept that. In fact she says if I stopped she'd divorce me!"



"On reflection, it was difficult. Some of my prophecies were destroyed. I remember thinking that I could be fighting for wins or championships within three or four years. When we started building the car in 1990, we were at the back end of relatively good times. But the early nineties were very, very difficult financially, and survival became the issue, rather than anything else. After that comes a degree of stability, and then you would think about success."



"On the business side if you look at our car you now have Honda, Bridgestone, Benson and Hedges, Mastercard, Deutsche Post, and so on. It's a huge array of major world players. It takes a lot of credibility to get those people to commit to come with you, and I think that's probably the most pleasing thing for me personally. And technically the team is getting to such an advanced stage that I do believe that soon we can emerge as a big player."



"Irish people generally are hands on, and they're generally 'people people' - they are not into things, they are into people. So it irritates me that now I don't know the first name of every member of staff."



"Maybe I change all that. It seems that the races that we did well at in the past, we're doing badly at now, so let's hope that Silverstone will be good."