Jordon sign Ralph Firman - What's your opinion ?

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I personally think that Eddie Irvine was by far the better choice, considering all the rule changes for this year ....

One lap qualifying - Who's likely to get it right first time - The rookie or the pro ?

No Traction control - A big contribution to what makes rookie drivers look good and making F1 cars appear easier to drive. It's been banned from Silverstone this year. My bets rookies will suffer.

New Spare Car Rule - If you need the spare car for the race - you start from the pit lane - Who's more likely to damage the car before the race ? The pro or the Rookie ? That's right the rookie drivers.

I think these and other new rules including the new test day procedure Jordon have signed up for, Ban on launch control etc. will make these rookies look bad - like they used to !

Jordon where apparently considering 3 drivers for the role.

Eddie Irvine
Felipe Massa
Ralph Firman

They announced Firman today. Bad move I say. But then thats just my opinion.

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fisifan01

No i dont think that signing firman was a bad move he has experience in many of the junior fromulae such as Formula Nippon which is held in higher esteem than F3000. Ralf schumacher and eddie irvine entered the sport in the same manner.

Irvine would have been a good bet in the short term however EJ is looking for someone to partner fisichella in the long run.

Massa is a very gifted driver but is inexperienced and like sato he is prone to throwing his car off the track.

Ej is trying to rebuild the team so it can be in a situation where it can compete in the top four again therefore he needs the best package available to him which includes consistent reliable drivers.

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I realise Firman has racing experience and Eddie would have only suited short term but 1 bad season in F1 can do a lot of harm and I don't think Jordan can afford another bad year considering they already seem to be suffering finding sponsorship.

BTW it appears Fisichella might agree with me :

Fisichella said: "Eddie would have been a great choice because I rate him highly as a driver and because of his experience. We would have worked well together and helped the team to move forward."

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chernobyl

Eddie Jordan ultimately had no choice in the matter. Jordan had to make a decision that would mean their survival. They were recently given a $16m bailout by the FIA but still they need a pay driver...?

Things are not so bright in the Jordans finanical perspective.

Eddie Irvine was never in the running for the drive, well i dont think so from the Jordan side. Yes he has experience and all things that Jordan wanted, except he was not willing to pay for his drive which is understandable. Irvine almost ebarassed the brass in Maranello by winning the WDC when you consider they were giving Schumacher (rumored) $50m and Eddie [the genuine 2'nd class citizen down there] $8m...it was a shame he let the ball drop in Suzuka.

Massa is a poor driver at the moment (imo) but with 1-2years testing he can improve but still i dont think he will be blisteringly fast.
He over-drives the car and works too hard for his times.

Signing Firman is nothing unusual for Jordan. I would define Jordan as the team that gives rookies a break and Firman has experience in Formula 3 and Formula Nippon. I have never seen him drive and so have no idea what he might be like but Jordan has rarely made mistakes regarding drivers. I think M Schumacher and Sato were his only 2 costly ones and the rest were beneficial to a great degree.

Kalina

As Chernobyl said, Jordan are a team to give rookies a break (pity they didn't get to keep that rookie Schumacher all those yeras ago:) ) and Firman has a good reputation in the junior formulas.
As long as he can support Fisi and try not crash into him on a regular basis then they should be a strong partnership.:p

The_Bullman

I suppose that it just boiled down to money. The new guy was bringing in more cash than massa could so he was picked. I would imagine that it was as simple as that.

chernobyl

Originally posted by Kalina
(pity they didn't get to keep that rookie Schumacher all those yeras ago:) )

Eddie Jordan lost Schumacher through a lack of business experience..it was his fault he could not read a contract.

Contrary to popular belief, Jordan-Ford new boy Ralph Firman paid nothing - yes, nothing - to land his Formula One seat alongside Giancarlo Fisichella this season


Mark Gallagher told Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper, "All the talk of drivers bringing millions of pounds is not true. What we wanted was a drive that the sponsors liked the look of - and Ralph is the perfect choice


"Eddie Irvine offered us speed, performance and reliability but, in three years, he'll be almost 40. We would only have been talking another year with Eddie - and one-year agreements are of no interest to us"

B&H certainly provided Jordan witha boost for getting Firman but theres no smoke without fire.
Jordan were certainly not in the best financial position before the FIA $16m bailout which im sure has made a significant difference.

..Firman won Nippon..fuking great..he's nearly 30 which is a drivers peak age. If he is going to do something special he does not have much time.

Karma

Bring back Sato...:D

Don1

Massa sucks ass, Irvine is gettin too old, Ralph seems good plus big sponsorship backing and low wage bill. Jordan need as much money as they can get because they are just on the verge of a downward financial spiral; no more Honda, no more Deutchse Post and no fag sponsorship on the way? Big trouble.

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Some quotes this from this tread :

The new guy was bringing in more cash than massa could so he was picked

Ralph seems good plus big sponsorship backing and low wage bill

Eddie Jordon quote : "
"He is not bringing anything, he is getting paid." - Jordan added that Firman was not bringing any extra sponsorship

From ITV website : Given that Eddie Irvine had allegedly offered his services to Jordan for free, the fact that Firman was not bringing sponsorship raised a few eyebrows.


I still think they will suffer over this decision.

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