Former team owner Eddie Jordan says he hates F1 bosses for what they have done to the sport.

In particular the Irishman cites the regulations, which he claims have produced 1000kg "tractors" that fail to excite the senses.

A former driver who subsequently formed his own F3 and F3000 teams, Jordan gave numerous drivers their first big breaks before they went on to achieve much, much more... we're talking the likes of Senna... Schumacher.

In 1991 he formed Jordan Grand Prix and in that debut season took on a young German by the name of Michael Schumacher to replace regular driver Bertrand Gachot who has been imprisoned for assaulting a taxi driver. Jordan only had Schumacher for that one race before Benetton stepped in, but over the years that followed the likes of Rubens Barrichello, Eddie Irvine, Damon Hill and Heinz-Harald Frentzen drove for the Irish outfit.

Its best season was 1999 when Frentzen finished third in the driver standings as did the team in the constructors', of its four wins however undoubtedly the most memorable was Damon Hill's at Spa in 1998

Struggling financially the team was sold to Alex Schnaider's Midland Group in 2005 for a reported $60 million and a couple of years later Jordan reappeared as a pundit for the BBC alongside his work as a columnist for F1 Racing and other TV work.

In 2016 he joined Ch4's fledgling F1 team and has since launched the Formula For Success podcast with David Coulthard.

In his new media role, Jordan has always courted controversy, while his predictions and insights have been somewhat hit and miss. However, there has never been any doubt about the Irishman's love for the sport.

Now, speaking in the latest episode of the Formula For Success podcast, Jordan has hit out at the current state of the sport, and in particular the regulations.

"As far as I'm concerned, shame on the regulations, shame on the organizers and shame on the people who have Formula 1 buried deeply in their soul," he declares.

"They've allowed this sport, in my opinion, to go to a step that may never come back from here, and I absolutely hate them for it."

Recalling the days when "the ground shuddered" as the cars waited on the grid ahead of the green flag, Jordan blames the size and weight of the current machinery, which he compares to tractors.

"It absolutely moved underneath you, such was the element of the power transmitted to the noise, to the sound, to the surface, it just absolutely went through your body," recalled the Irishman.

"My God, when you were at a race, and let's say you were at Silverstone, even if you were not inside the grid and you were outside on the grandstand, and the race started, those V10s!

"It was sex on wheels," he continued, "and that's what motor racing was for me and that's what I enjoyed so much.

"Will we ever get back to the V10s? Probably not," he sighed. "We're too cowardly, what's going on at the moment, whether it's regulations or it's this that and the other."

Of course, fans of a certain vintage will go back even further lamenting the disappearance of 12... even 16 cylinder engines.

The ground still shudders before a race however, only it is to the beat of a DJ seeking to whip the crowd into a frenzy as the race increasingly becomes the backdrop to a 'happening'.

While Liberty seeks to monetise every single aspect of the sport, fully aware that it is the young who have the money and are willing to part with it, the teams are fully complicit.

In Jordan's day it was the teams versus Bernie (F1) and Max (FIA), now the teams are fully aligned with Liberty and as a result it is the sport that is the loser.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by ffracer, 22/11/2024 23:18

"@ BrightonCorgi:

Yes and no. While the sand /gravel pit is much better than a track limits violation (Please no more) or a wall (which would involve potentially a violent crash, a safety car and massive clean up), a car just dipping a wheel into a gravel pit would drag a ton of gravel back onto the circuit, then making the surface like walking on marbles and a minefield of dangerous projectiles ... The sand is best but, I believe, there are major issues with that too (inducing race cars to barrel roll? Some more noted experts on this panel needed here) with a generous safer barrier, well off from the sand pit, and with a ribbon of asphalt road, between the said pit and in front of the said barrier, so a vehicle could reenter the circuit, slowed by the detour and minus all the sand and crud lol."

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2. Posted by BrightonCorgi, 22/11/2024 18:56

"Another rant is there are too many run-off areas.

We need more grass and gravel. Keep the drivers on the level make sure they are driving a tidy line."

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3. Posted by Chester, 19/11/2024 11:29

"@TeamHack. The Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders come to Austin (COTA) for the race because it is Texas- where we have freedom. Shh... crazy Liberty may try to drop the cheerleaders too."

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4. Posted by Team Hack, 19/11/2024 9:40

"@ffracer

I could not agree more.

The whole electric thing is overloaded with negatives (pun intended) both engineering & environmental and with sustainable fuels it does seem we could have it all or close enough i.e. the engines we love,the noise,the smell (Castrol R anyone?) etc.

Nowadays there is no emotion or passion attached to F1 unless you are thrilled at seeing 'celebs' and emotion & passion is what drew most fans to the sport in the first place.

So much for Grand Prix racing being the pinnacle of motorsport when the latest Formula E cars can accelerate faster than F1 cars.

We just have to wait for Liberty to finish off Moto GP and then they will have ruined the lot and can then sell up.

Incidentally why were grid girls dropped yet american cheerleaders are not and will they drop grid girls in Moto GP?
"

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5. Posted by ffracer, 19/11/2024 2:34

"Amen, Eddie.

For the longest time, F1 has been going down endless rabbit holes and literally reinventing the wheel (and power trains, transmissions, steering wheels, etc) The chanting around the world is to bring back V10s and V12s. Paddy Lowe has created an alternative fuel with zero emissions and has been doing demonstrations using epic, vintage Cars but the oil magnates keep burying the articles. My teenage kids Race their Lotus 97Ts, complete with manual transmission, on the Brands Hatch circuit, for their preferred simulator set up...

Lets start with Karting and/or a lower formula series and/or the BOSS vintage F1 series to use this Zero alternative fuel so we can celebrate zero emissions and not massive battery landfills courtesy of Tesla, Formula E and what the car manufacturers keep ramming down the public’s throats to they can Continue to justify it all and maximize profits."

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6. Posted by SF 158, 18/11/2024 17:30

"C'mon, Eddie. Ground shuddering F1 cars instead of the nuances of flexi-wings and tire degradation? What don't you understand?

And don't you get it's actually now about lifestyle and celebrity and making big money?

Well I don't get any of it either, but it's glaring apparent that big money rules everything."

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7. Posted by BrightonCorgi, 18/11/2024 14:30

"He's spot on. Bring back V10 or V12's, refueling and grid girls!"

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8. Posted by Spindoctor, 18/11/2024 12:44

"Pretty much spot-on vis-à-vis the teams & FIA. Not so sure I ever got my sexual kicks from V10's, but whatever turns you on Eddie.....
Aural sex aside the noise was indeed stunning & for petrolheads thrilling, but speaking personally it was the sporting spectacle: Man & machine, teams vs teams, drivers vs drivers etc. & the technical achievements of the likes of Chapman which addicted me to F!. Despite the slow decline of F1 into seemingly a mere money-making "entertainment" I seem unable to break that addiction."

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9. Posted by Wokingchap, 18/11/2024 12:32

"I agree with Eddie and unfortunately we are the losers.
So sad."

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10. Posted by Max Noble, 18/11/2024 10:23

"Eddie can be a bit “unusual” on occasion, but he has summed it up right here. F1 is now all about profit. Nothing to do with racing…"

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Jordan hits out at the state of contemporary F1

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