20/05/2005
NEWS STORY
Former F1 driver, Eddie Irvine, has been linked with a possible buy out of the Jordan team.
There is widespread speculation in the paddock in Monaco that Alex Shnaider is looking to pull out of the team, having decided that F1 is not good value for money - something that most people could have told him for free.
Though it is being denied by team members, paddock speculation suggests that former Jordan driver, Eddie Irvine, couple be part of a consortium willing to step in and save the Silverstone based outfit. It's understood that a possible buy-out would involve Russian money, rather than Irish.
Irvine is understood to have a personal fortune of around £50m ($93m), almost all of it from property, though it is unlikely that he would be willing to risk his own cash in the Jordan venture - should it go ahead.
Former Jordan designer Anderson, who is now working as a presenter for Setanta - F1 broadcaster in Ireland - says that the deal has a "better than fifty-fifty" chance of being done.
Whatever the situation with Shnaider, Pitpass can confirm that morale at the Irish team's Silverstone factory is at rock bottom, with the remaining staff - 50 have been 'lost' since the beginning of the year - feeling highly demoralised, and looking for pastures new.