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The Paddock
2 0 0 0 t e a m s
7 + 8  |
 Jaguar Racing
(Stewart GP) |
| Formula One record as Jaguar: [1-1-2000] |
| |
No races |
| Formula One record as Stewart: |
| Starts |
49 |
| Poles |
1 |
| Wins |
1 (European 1999, Nuerburgring, Johnny Herbert) |
| Constructors' titles |
none |
| Drivers' titles |
none |
| 1999 season: |
| Fourth overall, 36 points (Rubens Barrichello/Johnny Herbert) |
first x1, third x3, fourth x2, fifth x4, seventh x1, eighth x2, ninth x1, 10th x2, 11th x2, 12th x1, 14th x1, retired x10, non-start x1, disqualified x1 |
| History: |
| 1996 |
Former triple world champion Jackie Stewart announces he is setting up a new team in his name. |
| 1997 |
Makes F1 debut in Australian Grand Prix. |
| 1998 |
Team revamp, Gary Anderson arrives as technical director from Jordan |
| 1999 |
Ford take over team and announce name change to Jaguar Racing from 2000. Herbert wins at Nuerbuergring, the 175th victory for a Ford-powered car in Formula One, turning Jackie Stewart into a winner as both driver and constructor. |
| Season by season: (year, standing, points, wins) |
| 1997 |
ninth, six points (Rubens Barrichello/Jan Magnussen) |
| 1998 |
eighth, five (Barrichello/Magnussen/Jos Verstappen) |
| Prospects for the 2000 season: |
 R1 car, powered by Ford-Cosworth V10 CR-2 engine |
| Jaguar have a great motor racing tradition, winning Le Mans seven times, but Melbourne will be their Formula One debut. They aim to build on the achievements of the Stewart team and the key personnel remain, although Jackie Stewart has stood down as chairman. His son Paul is still chief operating officer. Technical director Gary Anderson says the R1 is far from a re-badged Stewart and much has changed. The car is lower and lighter and with a bigger fuel tank than last season's. The team has had engine problems in testing and the cars, now in British Racing Green, could suffer a few early gremlins. |
| Drivers: |
Eddie Irvine  |
| Aged 34, Britain |
| Races 96, wins 4, pole positions 2. podium finishes 24, carrer points 173. |
| 1999 record |
Ferrari, runner-up with 74 points. First x4, second x2, third x3, fourth x2, fifth x1, sixth x2, seventh x1, retired x1. |
Eddie raced Formula Fords in the mid eighties, becoming British Formula Ford champion, and Formula Ford Festival winner in 1987.
He shone in Formula Three in 88, joining Formula 3000, and Pacific Racing in 89.
He won in Hockenheim in 1990, after switching to Eddie Jordan's team. Finishing the season third overall.
He raced Formula 3000 and Sports cars for the next three seasons, before making his Formula One debut for Jordan in 1993 at the Japanese Grand prix. This race was one he will always remember, because when Ayrton Senna lapped him, he immediately took the place back. He finished the race in 6th, but afterwards, an argument occurred between Senna and himself, seeing Senna actually punch him.
In the opening round of the 94 season at Interlagos, Eddie, then partnered with Rubens Barrichello at Jordan, was involved in a huge accident, seeing him banned from what was originally one race, but extended to three.
His first podium finish came in 1995, where he finished third in Canada.
Switching to number two driver to Michael Schumacher at Ferrari in 1996, seemingly endless mechanical failures, and next to no testing, hampered his chances.
97 was a better year, with a second place in Argentina, followed by four thirds, but Eddie shone the brightest when he was leading the Japanese Grand Prix. He finished the season 7th overall.
Ferrari worked around the clock to improve car reliability, and 98 saw Eddie finish the season fourth, with 5 third and 3 second places.
For the 1999 season, Eddie finally enjoyed the taste of sweet victory, winning for the first time at the opening race in Melbourne, Australia. Then, at Silverstone his teammate and number one driver for the team broke both his legs in a first lap accident which resulted in the German being sidelined for most of the remainder of the season, throwing Eddie into the number one role for the team. He continued to do well with another three wins, fighting Mika Hakkinen for the Drivers title, but unfortunately for the Irishman, he missed out by only two points in the last race of the season.
The year 2000 will see him partnered with Johnny Herbert at the new Jaguar Racing and his hope is to do this year what he so narrowly missed out on in 99, win the drivers crown.
[More] |
Johnny Herbert  |
| Aged 35, Britain |
| Races 144, wins 3, poles 0, fastest laps 0, podium finishes 7, points to date 98 |
| 1999 record |
Stewart - first x1, fourth x1, fifth x1, seventh x1, 10th x1, 11th x2, 12th x1, 14th x1, retired x6, did not start x1. |
Johnny won both the junior and senior titles in karting, before advancing to Formula Ford under the guidance of Mike Thompson in 1983. Here he won a superb race, winning from the back in the 1985 Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch. Although money was short, insiders spotted Johnny's talent and Eddie Jordan signed him up to race Formula 3000 in 1987, where he took the title.
Everything looked wonderful for Johnny in 1988, he looked set to win the title again, but he suffered horrendous leg injuries at Brands Hatch, on the very day he was signed a Formula One contract with Benetton.
He made his Formula One debut in the Brazilian Grand Prix in 1989, starting from 10th to finish fourth, but his shattered heels couldn't cope with the heavy braking, so he was dropped.
He signed with Lotus late in 1990, and there he stayed until 1994, but the team was falling from grace, and his best finishes were three fourth places, although during that time he won the Le Mans 24 hr endurance race, driving for Mazda.
Signing with Benetton again in 1995, he partnered Michael Schumacher, the then reigning champion. Here he saw his first Formula One victory, winning the British Grand Prix and then the Italian Grand Prix as well, finishing fourth overall for the season.
He moved to Sauber in 1996, partnering Heinz-Harald Frentzen. The season started badly, with a first lap accident in Australia, followed by another 6 retirements. The highlight of the season came for Johnny when he started the Monaco Grand Prix from 13th position, and finished in third. This saw him becoming the number one driver for the 97 season.
Johnny suffered from lack of testing in 1997, but he drove a brilliant race in Hungary, finishing the race on the third step of the podium.
Australia was the only race of 1998 that saw Johnny win any points. Here he finished 6th, and the rest of the season was plagued with mechanical failure and accidents, even with his own team-mate, Jean Alesi.
He finished with only that one point, equal with Trulli and Magnussen, in 15th place.
1999 saw him sign with Stewart, alongside Rubens Barrichello, with high hopes for the new season and although 99% of the year saw him retire from race after race, he gave Stewart Grand Prix their first and only victory after a superb drive in a wet/dry race at the Nurburgring. The end of the season saw some strong drives and the year 2000 sees him remain with the team after it was bought by Ford and renamed Jaguar Racing, alongside ex Ferrari driver Eddie Irvine.
[More] |
| Jaguar in 2000: |
Jaguar is the newest kid in Formula One this year, but only in the sense that the Coventry company's brand name has not been seen at the sport's highest level before.
Jaguar Racing is at present a Jaguar team more in name than anything else.
It is in fact the Stewart team founded by Jackie Stewart in 1997, rebadged, and reliveried with the addition of last year's world championship runner-up Eddie Irvine to its driving list in place of the Brazilian Rubens Barrichello, who had been with the squad since its inception.
Barrichello and Irvine have swapped places, the Irishman coming to Jaguar as a team leader while the Brazilian takes the "other'' seat at Ferrari. Barrichello has protested that he has equal status at Maranello with a certain Herr Schumacher, but there are few within the motor-racing fraternity who seem to believe it.
The fact that Stewart, which began to find some real success last year, has been airbrushed from history and given the Jaguar moniker says a great deal about the mass motor industry and the marketing power that multi-national companies believe comes from having a slot at the sharp end of the grid in F1.
Ford (which, under its own banner, has supplied engines to teams for years, including Stewart), bought out the Scottish former world driver's champion last year in a deal reported to be worth around $100 million.
Ford owns Jaguar (it's part of its Premium Automotive group) and, with a rapacious eye on the prestige car market worldwide, but particularly in Germany, where Jaguar does not do as well as it might against Mercedes and BMW, it wants to boost sales.
What better way to lift the Jaguar image and gloss it with a hi-tech sheen than make it a front runner in F1?
That's why we will see a pair of green Jaguars driven by Irvine and Briton Johnny Herbert on the starting line in Melbourne.
Most new teams struggle, or take some time to come up to speed, but Jaguar is not likely to be one of them. Herbert, in his Stewart guise, won the European Grand Prix last season while Barrichello often ran at the front of races and qualified well up the grid during 1999, thanks to the Ford V10 engine.
This time round the Jaguar goes into battle with the 40-valve V10 CR-2 Ford power plant, which has a maximum engine speed of 18,000rpm and a capacity of 2998cc.The cast aluminium alloy block engine weighs just 97 kilograms.
And although it is Jaguar branded, the Stewart family, Jackie (pictured) and his son Paul, are still very much involved in affairs with the team.
"The birth of a new Formula One team is always an emotional event and I am proud to be associated with a marque I drove in the early stages of my career,'' Stewart said at the launch of the new look Jaguar.
"The Jaguar R1 is a car with great potential, and in Eddie Irvine and Johnny Herbert we have two outstanding drivers who will help us realise that potential.
"The feedback from testing is extremely positive. Cosworth have worked hard with us to make significant improvements to the engine, and it is even more competitive for this year.''
Jaguar Racing's chief operating officer, Paul Stewart, Jackie's son, was equally upbeat. "Every single element of last season's car was analysed and improved. I am very confident we have a car that can win races this season," he said.
Ford's chief technical officer, Neil Ressler, is quick to point out that while the team may have been adapted from the Stewart organisation, Jaguar staff are playing a key role in furthering its aims.
"Jaguar engineers and designers are already contributing to the racing programme. The need to solve problems quickly breeds a nimble and innovative culture which we will be able to transfer to the road car development programs. I regard technology and process transfer as one of the major advantages for Jaguar."
While it should be competitive, few are expecting Jaguar to give the championship much of a shake in its first year.
Irvine, however, after coming so close to the championship in 1999 and winning GP races for the first time, should be pumped and raring to repeat his Melbourne victory of 12 months ago.
It will be interesting to see how he fares now that he doesn't have to let his team-mate pass him at will.
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