NOVEMBER 26, 2004

Jordan on the verge of a deal

Eddie Jordan and Christian Horner are believed to be only days away from announcing a deal which will see the team pass into the hands of the owner of the Arden International Formula 3000 team. Eddie Jordan and Horner have been in negotiation for weeks but the whisper in F1 circles is that a deal is now done and the team will soon change its name. It is not clear yet who is bankrolling the deal but Horner has obviously found backing from somewhere. The big question now is who will drive for the team, which ran Nick Heidfeld and Timo Glock at the end of the year, the team having agreed to part with Giorgio Pantano in the latter part of the year. Heidfeld is still on the market although BMW appear to want to see him as a driver at BMW Williams (probably a test driver). Glock is still on the market but will have to contend with the likes of Ryan Briscoe (who may help lessen the load of the Toyota engine deal) and David Coulthard is also still out there, looking for a job. Horner is also known to be very keen to secure the services of Vitantonio Liuzzi, who won the Formula 3000 title this year with Arden. Liuzzi is impressing in his tests at Red Bull Racing, where Tony Purnell is also a big fan. It is worth noting that in recent weeks there has also been some revived interest in Liuzzi from down Williams way although the Italian is keen to get a racing seat in F1 rather than a testing role.

The Jordan package in 2005 is not going to be hugely competitive at the start of the year as there will have to be an interim car because of the late nature of the decisions having been made but the team is planning to introduce a new car in the middle of the year which will be designed by ex-Renault designer Mark Smith and this mated to a Toyota engine could be a very useful package with which to give the team a solid base on which to build for the future.