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On Monday 24 January 2005, a brief press release marked the end of the dream that was Jordan and beginning of a new era, Midland Racing.
The Irish team, based across the road from Silverstone Circuit, home of the British Grand Prix, had been sold by its flamboyant owner Eddie Jordan, though, according to the release, he was to remain involved as a consultant.
The new owner was Alex Shnaider a Russian-born Jew who had subsequently emigrated to Canada. Buying the Jordan F1 team, we were told, would enable Shnaider to give his various companies a truly global presence… though one has to wonder if he understood exactly how much money he would need to pump into his team in order to achieve this.
A few weeks later, when the team announced the signing of rookies Narain Karthikeyan and Tiago Monteiro, Eddie Jordan wasn't present, he wasn't even mentioned in the press release. Clearly, his involvement was at an end.
To run the team, Shnaider brought in former Euro and German F3 racer, Colin Kolles, who would work 'alongside' highly respected British motorsport stalwart, Trevor Carlin.
When Kolles turned up in Melbourne wearing Burberry the die was cast, and from then on in the motorsport media, a closed-shop at the best of times, appeared to treat the former dentist as an object of ridicule.
Although Midland now owned the team, it was decided to contest the 2005 series as Jordan, ahead of a total change of image for 2006.
Behind the scenes there were various rumours relating to lack of funding and low morale, not helped by the fact that Mark Smith, recently recruited from Renault, wanted out after just a few weeks in the job. Along the way the team lost Carlin but gained Johnny Herbert... in all honesty it was a bit of a mess.
On track, the EJ15, essentially a 'tarted-up' EJ14, was a dog, and the team and its drivers did well to achieve what they did. Basically, ahead of the full Midland launch in 2006, Kolles was attempting to spend as little as possible on the 2005 programme.
Drivers Tiago Monteiro and Narain Karthikeyan did the best they could, and the Portuguese driver did brilliantly to finish all but one race. The Toyota engine was ultra-reliable, but the Jordan chassis, though also reliable, was pretty awful, and therefore the results of the two drivers says much for their patience and determination.
For 2006, the team has a new name, Midland F1 Racing, which was immediately shortened - by the team no less - to MF1, an unfortunate choice when one considers that this is very, very similar to the name of a 'flat-pack' furniture manufacturer in the UK, famous for its never-ending sale, its 'dated' advertising campaigns and the fact that essential parts are usually missing.
Midland quickly confirmed Christijan Albers as lead driver, and Nicky Pastorelli as test driver. Meanwhile, although it was reported that Tiago Monteiro would drive the second race car, the team refused to confirm the deal. To further complicate matters, in the wake of rumours concerning Pastorelli being unable to come up with the required funding, Markus Winkelhock was brought in as test driver.
Less than twelve hours before the car's launch - on February 3 - a further five mini-sponsors were revealed, together with another test driver (Giorgio Mondini) and a 'junior driver (Adrian Sutil). The team also, finally, confirmed Tiago Monteiro as its second race driver. Poor Pastorelli however, wasn't even mentioned.
There remained the nucleus of a decent team at Dadford Road, but it wasn't long before rumours began to emerge that all was not well.
Despite denials, it appeared that Shnaider was being extremely cautious with money, and those who thought things were tight under Eddie Jordan found the going that much harder under the new ownership.
Yes despite all this, the MF1 wasn't too bad a car, certainly compared to some of its rivals, and many within the team must - all things considered - feel that Midland punched above its weight.
The team had done little pre-season testing, even though every man and his dog appeared to have a testing role with the Silverstone based outfit. Add to this the change of name and the requisite change of image and one begins to appreciate how much the team was having to contend with.
Despite the confines of the budget - thought to be less than $50m - James Key and his team came up with a decent package. However, as the season developed the team was unable to follow suit, with matters not helped by talk of an impending change of team ownership (again!) and Toyota opting to supply engines to Williams in 2008.
On track, neither Monteiro nor Albers was particularly impressive and some petty antics at Monaco and Silverstone did nether driver any favours. Much of the season saw the Dutch and Portuguese drivers 'battling' it out with the Toro Rossos and Super Aguris, the heady days of 1999 - when Jordan finished third in the Constructors' Championship - long forgotten.
In Germany both cars were disqualified for flexing rear wings, with the team (ironically) scoring its best result of the season one week later, Monteiro coming home ninth and albers tenth.
Five weeks later, following weeks of speculation, it was officially announced that Dutch car manufacturer Spyker had bought the Midland F1 Team, leaving everyone at Dadford Road facing the prospect of further upheaval.
When Midland entered F1 in its own right at the beginning of 2006, the Jordan legacy was already beginning to fade. Following another change of ownership it appears that that particular chapter of F1 history is finally at an end.
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