Photo credit: Rick Dikeman, Eddie Jordan, Montreal 1996 — CC BY-SA 3.0 (SEE CREDIT LINKS AT THE END OF THE CONTENT)
Entering Formula One is never easy, and in the 1990s, it was even tougher, teams needed enormous financial backing, strong connections, and proven results to survive.
Long before the bright yellow Jordan cars appeared on the grid in the early 1990s, Jordan had already lived several professional lives, some successful, some abruptly cut short.
F1 was not a sudden ambition, but the final step in a journey that began far away from racing paddocks.
Entering Formula One – Eddie Jordan
Jordan’s story matter because it explains why Jordan Grand Prix felt different from other teams.
It was not born from a manufacturer boardroom or a political alliance, but from one man’s refusal to accept limits, whether financial or personal.
Before F1 job and racing karts
Before motorsport took over his life, Eddie Jordan worked in banking.
As a young man in Dublin, he held a job as a clerk at the Bank of Ireland.
However, Jordan was known for selling used cars to customers alongside financial products, bending the rules slightly and learning how persuasion worked in the real world.
However, a banking strike in 1970 unexpectedly changed everything, with work suspended, Jordan took a temporary job in Jersey from the summer.
It was there, almost by accident, that he discovered karting, the effect was immediate, racing offered excitement, competition and independence in a way no office job ever could.
When he returned to Ireland, he did not hesitate, he bought a kart, taught himself the sport, and within a year won the Irish Kart Championship in 1971.
That victory convinced him that racing could be more than a hobby.
Imagine having no real background in racing, then recognizing an opportunity and taking it without hesitation. That was Eddie Jordan. Figures like him are rare today, people who move forward first and figure out the rest along the way.
Progress often belongs to those willing to step forward before feeling ready.
Eddie Jordan becoming racing driver in ’70s
Jordan pushed forward as a racing driver throughout the 1970s, he competed in Formula Ford, Formula Three and Formula Two, racing against future legends such as Prost and Mansell.
He was fast enough to be taken seriously and talented enough to earn respect in the paddock, at one point, he even tested a McLaren F1 car, a rare opportunity that hinted at how close he came to the top.
Yet Jordan was also brutally honest with himself, he understood that while he was capable, he was not exceptional in the way required to become a long-term F1 driver.
Money was the problem, racing demanded constant funding and Jordan never had deep financial backing behind him.
A serious leg injury in 1975 further complicated his prospects and forced him reassess his future.
Instead of chasing a dream he sensed was slipping away.
To spend one year discovering a new discipline and the next winning a national championship feels almost impossible. Yet that rapid rise defined Eddie Jordan’s early racing story.
The Birth of Eddie Jordan F1 Racing
Eddie Jordan’s strength was not only speed, but leadership!
He understood people, sponsors, and opportunity. In 1979, he founded Eddie Jordan Racing, shifting from the cockpit to the pitwall, this decision defined everything that followed.
The team quickly became a breeding ground for young talent, Jordan had an eye for drivers who were hungry and fast.
Jordan team competed in British Formula 3 and later International Formula 3000, categories that sat below F1, results came steadily, then explosively.
In 1987, Eddie Jordan team won the British F3 championship with Johnny Herbert.
Two years later, the team dominated Formula 3000 with Jean Alesi.
Both drivers would soon reach F1, reinforcing Jordan’s reputation as a talent builder rather than just a team owner.
By the end of ’80s, Eddie Jordan was no longer an outsider, he was proven force in junior single-seaters.
Jordan team enters Formula 1
F1 was not a fantasy for Jordan, it was a logical next step.
Winning championships; had already beaten many of the people running F1 teams at lower levels, it was the time for him to enter F1.
He also understood something critical, F1 was as much about relationships and sponsorship as lap times.
Jordan used his charisma and relentless energy to secure backing, he convinced sponsors such as 7UP to support his vision and negotiated an engine deal with Ford’s Cosworth division.
This was no small achievement for an independent newcomer, so by 1991, Jordan F1 team became a reality.
The team entered F1 with a clear identity, fearless and unafraid to challenge big teams.
Its debut season even introduced the world to Michael Schumacher, who made his F1 debut with Jordan at the Belgian GP.
👉 Michael Schumacher first test in F1: Silverstone 1991
👉 Eddie Jordan, Willi Weber, and the Lie That Launched Michael Schumacher
More Than Just Entering F1
Eddie Jordan did not simply enter F1, he arrived with momentum built over two decades of trial, failure, adaption and success.
His background in banking taught him negotation, his time as a driver taught him humility, his junior teams taught him how to win with limited resources.
Jordan F1 team would go on to claim race victories, develop future champions and they almost came close to win the drivers championship in 1999 with Frentzen.
F1 did not create Eddie Jordan, he earned his way into F1.
Eddie Jordan passed away in 2025.
Featured Photo credits: Rick Dikeman, Eddie Jordan, Montreal 1996 — CC BY-SA 3.0 Source: Wikimedia Commons
