Jordan: GPT Not a Militant Group

Team boss Eddie Jordan revealed on Thursday that the Grand Prix Teams (GPT) Ltd company has been in operation for 18 months as five British teams prepare for the future of Formula One racing.

As revealed last week on Atlas F1, Jordan said today the company - which Jordan, Williams, McLaren, Arrows and British American Racing are all members of - has been an ongoing thing for some time.

Irishman Jordan revealed that the company's purpose is to protect the interests of the five teams with the threat of a breakaway series being proposed by the major manufacturers in the sport, but that it was a purely informative association with no political intentions.

"This is very clearly the independent teams based in England, just so that we all understand what our intentions are likely to be and see if there is conformity there in that group," Jordan said.

"It appeared that, to have some semblance of order, there would be one person appointed to discuss those particular things and that person appointed has the mandate from all of the five people.

"It is not a militant group, it is purely informative and that is why he chose to say what he needed to say to whoever it was. Was I informed of it? No I was not. Did I need to be? Absolutely not. It is not that kind of group.

"It is purely a matter, like what the original FOCA (Formula One Constructors Association) was, independent privately owned and run teams, not directly aligned by full ownership with a manufacturer, of those teams based in the UK.

"It is not a political system. I am staggered that the people in the press didn't know about it because to my knowledge it is 18 months old, if not longer, we meet on very informal times to discuss the state of Formula One so we can help if required."

He added: "It is a privately limited company, registered in the UK. It is bound by all the rules that limited companies are bound by, and that would mean proper public disclosure of accounts, so you can get your financial people to check up on it.

"But I am not sure there is an awful lot of money in there because I can't imagine how you would wheedle a lot of money from five team members that easily and if I knew the way I would be doing it. So it is a properly formed limited company."

Frank Williams also confirmed that his team is part of the GPT organisation and said that they meet five or six times a year to keep up to date with the happenings of Formula One. He added that the purpose of the company is to have a united body calling for the same thing when the Concorde Agreement expires.

"We are a member of that group," Williams said. "I should point out that we meet only several times in a year, maybe five or six times. We have no technical discussions whatsoever. We are merely intent upon presenting a united body next time around the Concorde Agreement is re-negotiated, whether that's tomorrow or not for several more years.

"We like to know and keep in contact with the GPWC and with Bernie (Ecclestone) from time to time so we are up to date with the business of Formula One."

Patrick Faure, the head of Renault who are part of the European Car Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) proposing the GPWC championship, claimed that an alternative voice in the form of GPT is good for the future of the sport.

He believes that a combination of the ACEA and GPT can get the best out of the Formula One in the future and insisted that the two bodies will come together to talk about the sport in the future.

"I think that if you take the complete issue in general terms, it is probably one of the good solutions to arrive at a good Formula One in the future," he said. "What we are trying to do, when the manufacturers are trying to get together and doing something to make the future of Formula One more bright and more consistent, it's because we all love Formula One.

"We love Formula One for sport, but also, let's be honest, we think it's very important for the image and for the awareness of the manufacturers all around the world.

"So we think now that if we want to make sure that the future of Formula One is as bright as it is today, thanks to the efforts of Bernie and of many of the people in this room and outside, we think we, the manufacturers, have a bigger part to play than in the past.

"The fact that some teams are also working there to try to push forward and find new ideas and we will discuss with them. I think it's up to all the community in Formula One to work together to build the future. As manufacturers we have one of the biggest parts to play there, but not the only one"