Jordan: Needs to pull together
by Julie Gates
The Team: A reasonable season so far, but nothing to get excited about. A very good car with excellent reliability, on a par with Ferrari, though some retirements were from accidents or driver errors. They haven't qualified too well, on average just scraping onto the fourth row, and on two occasions they have been way down the grid. However, race performances have generally been encouraging and they have finished in the points frequently, including podium positions and a win in France.
Driver - Damon Hill: His season so far has really been appalling. He was involved in accidents in the first two races and has only finished in the points twice. Monaco was a mess - after qualifying a torrid eighteenth and retiring on lap three, attempting an over-ambitious passing manoeuvre on Ralf Schumacher. Fought well in Spain, with the race's only on track overtaking manoeuvre, but only made seventh position. Crashed out of Canada, and retired from France. He hasn't qualified well at all, being outpaced by his team-mate 4-1. Must improve dramatically. All the fuss over his retirement is not good, though the much improved Silverstone qualifying and race results could mark the turn around of his season.
Driver - Heinz-Harold Frentzen: The complete opposite to his team-mate. He has been on the podium twice and usually finishes in the points. The win in France was excellent. He has qualified well, peaking at fifth in Australia, and always in the top ten. Fights incredibly well in race trim, and is showing the potential he demonstrated at Sauber. An amazing season for the German, after his lacklustre years at Williams.
What next: They are currently working on a new Mugen-Honda V10, and further aerodynamic upgrades. One thing needs to be improved immensely and that is the performance of Damon Hill. They need to gel together and work through his rough patch as a team and make the most of the package they have.
Conclusion: The team have all the components to be regular front-runners, with excellent reliability to help their cause. However, they are a team, and Hill has not performed well enough, which has damaged their position somewhat.
Rating: 6/10
Article is written by and copyright © 1999-2001 Julie Gates and The F1 Rumors Site
Julie Gates is happiest watching F1 and writing. Also interested in singing, cars, cinema, reading and going to concerts, she has little spare time to relax, but this is the way she likes it - rather being busy than idle as she can't stand still for five minutes! Totally committed to her career as a Formula One journalist, she is determined to succeed.
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