17/08/2004
NEWS STORY
As ever, team boss Eddie Jordan was on fine form when he attended the official FIA press conference on Friday.
Although he made his point regarding the threat to the small teams, and once again urged his fellow team bosses to agree the 2005 rules as soon as possible, he still found plenty of time to display his traditional - and much needed in the F1 paddock these days - sense of humour.
The only hint of concern was when Jaguar's Tony Purnell mentioned the ever-widening chasm between F1's 'haves' and 'have nots'. "The general health of the sport needs strong teams throughout," said Purnell. "We have seen nothing in the way of new teams come in and we've seen the divide between the rich and the poor grow ever bigger, so that it's almost become like an aristocratic sport where Ferrari are the emperors, the next level down are the ministers of McLaren and BMW, and then..."
At this point Paul Stoddart interrupted, "... some of the beggars," said the Australian.
As a picture flashed through Eddie's mind, the Irishman stopped the subject in its tracks, "Steady Tony," he said, "be careful."
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At one point, Jordan turned the tables, assuming the role of journalist, to ask Ross Brawn and Pat Symonds a question about the new rules.
Sadly, not one of the journalists present asked Eddie about the continuing rumours of a buy-out of the Irish team, a rumour that seems to re-surface at Grand Prix weekends and then die away again.
Surely, if there is a chance of the team being bought out it would be good to know, just as it would be good to kill off the story if it is untrue, or at least dead.
We know from when Eddie was announcing the Ford engine deal, before Niki Lauda, head of the Premier Performance Division, knew anything about it, that if there's good news, the Irishman simply cannot keep it to himself. Therefore, the fact that he and the team are remaining so tight-lipped on the subject, would seem to indicate that perhaps it's all smoke and precious little fire.
Either way, it would be good to know, and Friday's press conference would have been a perfect opportunity to get the low-down straight from the horse's mouth.
Furthermore, on the subject of a possible buy-out, it would be good to know the link with Grand Prix Investments (GPI), an offshore company that we understand involves Jenson Button's manager John Byfield and Russell King.