By Phil Giles
September 18 2004

The decision of Ford to pull out of Formula One has potentially left Jordan in the position of not being able to compete in the 2005 Formula One World Championship.

Ford have decided to pull their Jaguar marque out of F1 and to end production of it's road cars in the Midlands.  It is also believed to have put it's Cosworth arm, the manufacturers of Jordan and Minardi's engines up for sale, along with the rest of the Jaguar F1 Team.

Therefore, the futures of two more F1 teams are under threat, as is the whole future of the sport itself.  Eddie Jordan responded to the news with a tinge of sadness for those who are most affected by the news. “My thoughts are with the staff at Browns Lane (Coventry), Cosworth and the Jaguar Racing F1 team as they take this in." said EJ.  "We’re saddened by the news as we’ve enjoyed competing against Jaguar Racing and we have shared the same engine partner for the last two years." he continued.

Turning from to his own teams predicament, Eddie said "Jordan will presently analyse its position with regard to engines.  On a slightly happier note, I’m proud that history will record Jordan as the last team to win for Ford in its current campaign, at the Brazilian Grand Prix 2003.”

Paul Stoddart believes that he has a solid deal with Cosworth for 2005 and that this will remain in place.   He said “Minardi has enjoyed a long and mutually beneficial relationship with Cosworth Racing over the years, and in light of today's announcement, we will be working closely with Cosworth representatives to find a workable solution regarding engine supply arrangements for next season,” he said. “We are confident of being able to arrive at a suitable arrangement.”

There have been paddock rumblings recently that Jordan were looking to move away from the Cosworth lump.  Their three year deal with the engine supplier was to end at the end of 2005, however it's known that EJ would like a better deal on engines and the rumours surrounded either Mercedes or more likely Toyota being the EJ15's powerplant.

With 20 cars needed to complete a grid in F1, some of the remaining teams could be forced to run three cars each to make up the numbers.  This increases costs again for the other teams, something which the FIA and Bernie Ecclestone has recently been trying to avoid.