FORMULA 1/US Grand Prix: Ford bosses yesterday revealed their arrangement with Eddie Jordan for a three-year supply of Cosworth engines is on a customer basis and not a strict full works package as initially believed. Justin Hynes in Indianapolis
In Budapest a month ago Jordan announced he had secured what he referred to as a fully supported deal with Ford for a supply of Ford engines, saying: "The Ford blue oval will be on the car and the team will be known as Jordan-Ford. There is no question of payment. This is a partnership, with a team of people at Cosworth dedicated to Jordan and the engine we will use will be called the Ford-Cosworth RS."
Yesterday though, Ford's vice-president, Richard Parry-Jones, confirmed Jordan's deal as a paid for supply of engines.
"With the return of Ford Cosworth RS road cars to Ford of Europe's product line-up, we've decided to add the Ford blue oval badge to our Cosworth customer engines and the first team to benefit from this would be Jordan Grand Prix who will use Ford Cosworth RS engines from next season," he said.
Jordan's Budapest announcement though was not a case of the flamboyant team boss indulging in a familiar bout of hyperbole. According to Jordan insiders the deal struck by Jordan with Ford falls somewhere between a works supply of free engines and a customer deal.
Sources within the team say that while Jordan will next year receive a supply of the engine racing in this year's Jaguar R3 with a price tag attached, Jordan itself will pay nothing for the engines with the team owner having brokered a deal between sponsor DHL Deutsche Post and Ford.
That deal is believed to involve the purchase by Deutsche Post of somewhere in the region of 28,000 vehicles from Ford in a return for the assignment of a considerable percentage of Ford's multi-million dollar logistics requirement to the German company. That deal hasn't yet been finalised but is believed to be the payment method most likely for the engine supply.
The engine Jordan will receive next year is the unit running in this year's Jaguar R3, a 72-degree angled V10 regarded as one of the more impressive powerplants on the grid. Jaguar, by contrast will, in 2003, be provided with an all-new 90-degree angled unit which will form the main thrust of Ford's assault on next year's championship. The good news for Jordan is that the following year they will receive a supply of the 90-degree angled engines.
Meanwhile, Ford yesterday reaffirmed the troubled Jaguar Racing team had the company's full support despite rumours suggesting the motor manufacturer was losing patience with the ailing team.
Jordan announced its Ford-badged engine deal at the Hungarian Grand Prix in August but since then the silence from the Dearborn company has been deafening, leading to speculation Jordan's deal was a flawed one or that the motor manufacturer's commitment to its F1 arm was waning.
Rumours after the Hungarian Grand Prix went so far as to suggest Red Bull, the company behind sponsorship deals with Sauber and troubled Arrows, had tabled a bid of $50 million for the ailing Jaguar outfit. Yesterday, though, the company said Jordan and Jaguar would have the company's support next year and in the coming seasons.
"Ford fully supports its commitment to Jaguar Racing in Formula One and is not looking to withdraw from the series nor is it looking to sell the team," said a Ford spokesperson. "On the contrary, Ford will work even closer with Jaguar Racing over the long term in an effort to strengthen and accelerate competitiveness in Formula One with the ultimate aim being to win the world championship."
A podium finish for Eddie Irvine in Monza upped the belief that the team has made significant progress this season and also upped Irvine's stock and latest rumours in Indianapolis suggest the Irishman, who three months ago was being spoken of as a possible retirement candidate, now finds himself in the enviable position of figuring in a bidding war.
Yesterday Irvine said that so far he had not been promised 100 per cent of what he was looking for next year and he would take his time on a decision. Jaguar boss Niki Lauda said a decision on his driver line-up for next year will be made before the season-closing Japanese Grand Prix in a fortnight's time.
Meanwhile, in early track action at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway yesterday Michael Schumacher was, predictably, the fastest man on circuit, despite completing just four laps in the morning free-practice session. The world champion spent the bulk of the session in the Ferrari garage looking on as rivals tried to edge closer to his time of 1:15:188.
One of those who couldn't get there was team-mate Rubens Barrichello. The Brazilian had a major off early in the first hour of action, losing control on the banked final turn of the circuit and slammed into the wall at over 140 m.p.h. The championship's second-placed man was unhurt but his Ferrari was badly damaged and the Brazilian may have to resort to the spare car today. He later suggested the accident could have had something to do with the Bridgestone tyres he was testing.
It was better news for Jordan's Giancarlo Fisichella, however, the Italian finishing the morning session as the second-quickest man, three tenths behind Schumacher on 1:15:493. Fisichella's team-mate Takuma Sato was in attendance in sixth, a tenth further back.
Jaguar duo Pedro de la Rosa and Irvine were fourth and fifth, respectively, and Williams Juan Pablo Montoya was fifth fastest in the weekend's opening session.
