MOTOR RACING: While Eddie Jordan kept a low profile yesterday and stayed away from Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya, his old employee, Michael Schumacher, told the Irishman he would have to suffer through the financial difficulties which forced Jordan this week to announce it would shed 15 per cent of its workforce before year's end.

The world champion was speaking in the wake of Tuesday's announcement from Jordan that it was showing managing director Trevor Foster and chief engineer Tim Holloway the door with immediate effect as part of a wider programme aimed at cutting costs and improving performance at the team, which has now not scored a point since the US Grand Prix last September.

Schumacher, asked about recent restructures at Jordan and Honda BAR, said that the situations were different and more troubled at the Irish squad.

"You put two examples and only one is right," he said. "I think BAR have restructured, putting out some people to bring in others, whereas I think Jordan has had to let people go for whatever reason. I don't really want to get into it, but at the end of the day it has always been the case that you have had good times and less good times in Formula One financially, and maybe we're getting to the situation where it gets tougher financially, because if the world economy is tough, which it is at the moment, then it reflects into Formula One.

"Usually, though Formula One is the first to get out of it because good companies want to invest and they invest into the good teams."

Jordan, though, feel that is not good enough, and in recent weeks has claimed that the financial crisis is far worse than is being admitted and that the sport's biggest teams are not treating the problem seriously enough.

"If you do a good job, and Eddie has shown in the past what a good job he can do as a small team to get up, then you become interesting for good sponsors," Schumacher said. "At the moment he's on the other side of that. He obviously drops a little in his performance, for whatever reason, and that makes him less interesting for other sponsors.

"Whether the big teams are supposed to take care of the others . . ? What does he propose? Should they give him money to keep running? It's not feasible."

The Ferrari number one added that he believes the rule changes ratified recently - which from 2004 will see teams restricted to using just one engine over a race weekend - will help cut costs in the sport.

"I think one step is to go ahead with the engine situation in the future, which is looking in this direction (cutting costs). But Formula One has always been a certain way and I don't think you can change the way it works. But I'm sure that in the long-term future, for sure, certain steps will be taken to secure the business to keep it stable."

Schumacher can afford to take a facile long view of the predicament facing the smaller teams in Formula One, facing, as he is, into a Spanish Grand Prix that could see him move further into the championship distance.

The German lies 14 points clear of younger brother Ralf and 17 points ahead of Williams' second driver, Juan Pablo Montoya.

Ten of those points came via Schumacher's own genius, the German beating off the challenge of both Williams and McLaren in Brazil despite being shod with Bridgestone tyres that were nowhere near the match of their Michelin rivals, and a further 10 came via Bridgestone's return to emphatic superiority at Imola a fortnight ago.

And Schumacher is confidant that he can continue his winning ways despite Ferrari not testing at Barcelona as regularly as their major rivals, such as McLaren, who have taken three wins from the last four GPs in Barcelona and would have made it four last year had Mika Hakkinen not suffered a clutch failure just yards from taking the chequered flag.

Tyres will again be a huge element in the equation, and with both Bridgestone and Michelin having conducted exhaustive tests here, which is almost home away from home for the majority of teams, the battle between the tyre manufacturers is likely to be closer than in Brazil or San Marino.