A story recently published in motorsport 'bible' AUTOSPORT claimed that Ford was considering the possibility of supplying badged engines to Jordan. Niki Lauda said there was zero possibility of it happening, and now despite positive noises from some of Ford's top brass, other executives within the company are making moves to ensure the focus remains firmly on Jaguar. According to AUTOSPORT It now looks impossible that the deal will come about for 2003 unless Jordan pays for customer Cosworth's. From a corporate perspective, this story is symptomatic of a bigger problem for Ford and its Jaguar brand, and from a racing perspective, it is a missed opportunity for both teams.
Jaguar's presence in F1 at the moment is an embarrassment to the history of the brand and offers nothing to the marketing drive to turn Jaguar from an 'old man' sports car into something altogether more youthful. It seems that no matter who runs the team, designs the cars or drives them, nothing can be done to get them off the back of the grid. Without a proven, big-name aerodynamicist available to the team their chances of improving are limited in the short term. Added to this, their mystifying decision not to purchase Arrows' windtunnel ensures a continuation of the present situation where the team's aero package leaves a great deal to be desired. But potentially this is where a deal with Jordan may have benefited the team.
There is no doubt that Jaguar needs a quick fix. Despite the support of many within Ford to keep Jag as their sole focus, their patience is not infinite and will shorten if economic circumstances continue to worsen. Conversely, Jordan will need a quick solution in the engine department very soon.
Despite what Honda say, they will put all their eggs in the BAR basket before their Jordan contract is up. Furthermore, with no other major manufacturers 'free', Jordan faces the prospect when Honda leaves of having to source customer engines for huge sums of money. The experience of Arrows this season will have told Jordan that they cannot afford to do this a) if they want to regain some of their 1998/99 form and b) if they want to survive in a very unfriendly environment for sponsors. Thus a tie up between the Blue Oval and Jordan would have been good for both.
In return for free Cosworth engines, Jordan could have shared some of their resources/knowledge with Jaguar, with aerodynamics being the prime area for collaboration. With cost cutting a major issue in F1 (see previous posting "Increasing competition in F1 [and cutting costs along the way]"), there would have been subsequent cost benefits for both. At the end of the day, the sharing of information would perhaps have helped to cure some of Jaguar's more pressing problems. For Jordan, access to manufacturer supported engines after Honda would have continued their push to return to the top division of F1. Taking things to their hypothetical extreme for a moment, a relationship with Ford might have helped Jordan become a genuine manufacturer team in a year or two once the Blue Oval finally loses patience with Jaguar.
This tie-up will probably never materialise. It seems, according to AUTOSPORT, that only Ford Europe are keen on the idea and that those in the US are not keen to waste more money on F1. It is a real shame and could be a really bad move for Ford.
What is most likely to happen now is that Jaguar will continue to underperform for another couple of seasons before being canned and labelled the most expensive promotional failure in history. The chance to strengthen two F1 teams into real contenders has been lost.
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