The forgotten F1 comeback that began Jordan’s odyssey 

I first met Eddie Jordan when he was racing in Formula 3. In 1980 he bullied [Marlboro parent company] Philip Morris Ireland into a test drive in a Formula 1 McLaren, which took place at a race meeting at Brands Hatch. I was told to get down there, drive the car and then Eddie got five or 10 laps. I showed no interest – it was a f***ing nuisance to me.

At the back end of the 1980s I was at Silverstone regularly because we had the John Watson Performance Driving Centre. You’d go into the greasy spoon at lunchtime and there was EJ, ‘Bosco’ Quinn [Jordan’s general manager], Trevor Foster [team manager] and others. I built up a rapport.

I was living out on a limb in Bognor Regis at the time and EJ said, “Come up to Oxford, it’s great.” So I found a house at the end of 1990. Thereafter I saw a lot of EJ just as he was transferring from Formula 3000 into F1. In the autumn he asked me to drive the car.

The reason was they wanted somebody who they weren’t going to employ as a race driver, but had experience in F1 and wasn’t going to bin it. I did it on the basis that it was giving me an insight into a contemporary F1 car, to get a sense of how things had changed with aspirated engines, and he was getting my services on mate’s rates – in other words, for free, which of course appealed to Eddie. Maybe there was an Irish emotional element too.

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Designer Gary Anderson I already knew from Brabham in the early 1970s, and he was at McLaren when I joined in 1979. The team had a good feel, like a family with all the right values. At the start Jordan was creating something unique, an Irish Formula 1 team with a large Irish contingent.

Watson gave his initial impressions of the car as a favour to Jordan

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I drove the car at Silverstone initially. I had no idea what it would be like. The last time I’d driven an F1 car was for McLaren in the European GP at Brands Hatch in 1985. But I’d been driving Group C sportscars up until the end of 1990 so I was still an active driver.

I always believe a car will tell you if it’s good or bad – there’s an intangible quality through the feeling in your hands, feet, the seat of your pants. And the feeling I got was of a nice little car.

Later they asked me to drive again at Pembrey, a Godforsaken place in Wales. I rolled over because I was still doing the favour. We had two days down there and it was freezing – but it was a really sweet car. It didn’t have any vices.

"I remember saying to Senna, 'Ayrton, if you put your engine in that chassis you will win the world championship.' It was such a good chassis" John Watson

There was never any question of me racing. The car was very tight, principally because of my height, which was also a problem for [Bertrand] Gachot. I believe he buzzed an engine in Phoenix because of that. It was a car better suited to someone of Andrea de Cesaris’s build.

To finish fifth in the constructors’ standings in 1991 was just unbelievable. That year McLaren was running the Honda V12 and I remember saying to Senna, “Ayrton, if you put your engine in that chassis you will win the world championship.” It was such a good chassis.

When Michael drove it at Spa, he didn’t drive it stone cold, he had a couple of days’ prep at Silverstone. But that someone new to F1 could get in and horse it around to seventh on the grid was an illustration of how good it was – and how great Michael was at that time.

It’s easy to poke fun at EJ. But he built up a team in F3 and F3000, then put his cock on the block to generate funds to get on the F1 grid. The 191 is one of the most iconic cars in that green with the Fuji and 7UP sponsorship. It caught the eye, plus people like an underdog – and that’s the role EJ played, garnering massive public support.

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Jordan's first car was initially known as the 911 before a legal case from Porsche was settled out of court - EJ the beneficiary of a new road car from the German brand

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I have massive respect for what Eddie achieved. But could you imagine him in F1 now? One of my great disappointments was at the end of 1999, when the team finished third, there was a discernible change in EJ and he began to believe he was a ‘mega’. He got distracted by other elements of his life.

That was the transition point, when the leader started to seek personal fame, notoriety, wealth. Ron Dennis never did that, he never sought such things – they were a by-product of his success. That’s the difference between them.

John Watson was speaking to Damien Smith

Watson's shakedown is an often-forgotten part of Jordan's unforgettable 1991 season

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