Jordan EJ11 launch: Eddie’s new focus

Speaking at the unveiling of the Honda-powered EJ11, Jordan said: "When we were doing these launches in London, at West End theatres or the Cirque du Soleil, that meant four days when the car was lost to the team.

"We felt we had to maximise the time the car is with the team and it's worked: we tested on Saturday and yesterday [Monday] and we'll be testing tomorrow [Wednesday], Thursday and Friday."

After a lacklustre sixth in the constructors' standings in 2000, Jordan was keen to re-emphasise a change of approach that has come in hand in hand with the arrival of Honda as the team's works engine supplier.

"We've had a change of focus," he said. "Last year, we knew we had a reasonably quick car, but it was unreliable. When you're up against McLaren and Ferrari, you don't get a second bite. And as the media reported extensively, we also had a lot of changes of staff.

"We decided to adopt a different focus and a complete change in philosophy. We stopped development of the EJ10, put more resources into the design of the EJ11 and started on the design earlier than we ever have before.

"Other factors have also made us change our emphasis. In the past, my philosophy has been to keep things as small as possible, but nowadays there are so many things you need to make and keep yourself competitive. Running a two-car test team, for instance.

"Things have changed with the emergence of the major manufacturers and we need an operation on a scale to be able to exploit that. The works engine deal has freed up some extra budget, but I've asked our sponsors to dig deep this year, and I appreciate what they've done."

Jordan has expanded by 50 staff over the winter, taking it to 231 full-time employees, but is still around half the size of the McLaren or Ferrari workforce.