Jaguar Racing was a
Formula
One team that competed in the
FIA Formula
One World Championship from
2000 to
2004. It was formed from the
purchase by
Ford of
Jackie Stewart's
Stewart Grand Prix Formula One team in
June 1999. Ford renamed the team Jaguar Racing as part of its
global marketing operations to promote their
Jaguar premium car company. However, during the
years of Ford's ownership, the team was unable to revive its
performances of 1999.
The team in 2000 was managed by Wolfgang Reitzle, who was then head
of
Ford's Premier Automotive
Group. The extra funding and publicity brought by becoming Ford's
own team were obvious from the first race of the year. The team
hired 1999 world championship runner up
Eddie Irvine to partner former Stewart driver
Johnny Herbert in an all UK team.
Unfortunately this did not guarantee further success. The results
that season did not match the results that
Stewart had been able to achieve in 1999.
Reitzle stepped down and was replaced by American Racing champion
and successful team owner
Bobby Rahal
for 2001.
2001 did not see an improvement in results, and appointment of 3
time FIA F1 World Champion
Niki Lauda in
the middle of the year did not help team morale, with the team
sliding further back in the field. An abortive attempt to bring
McLaren's current technical director
Adrian
Newey to Jaguar further destabilised the team, and conflict
between both
Rahal and
Lauda led to
Rahal's
resignation.
2002 was even worse under
Lauda's
stewardship, with only a resurgence later in the year in terms of
results.
Ford's board of
directors were beginning to have major issues with the costs and
benefits of running the team in Formula One, especially as it did
not feature the parent company brand. Funding was reduced for 2003.
Lauda and 70 other staff were made
redundant, and a 2 year timeframe was given to show possible
benefits.
2003 saw an improvement of form for the team, directed by
John Hogan, as it benefited
from good management and a more efficient usage of resources (in
particular, using a wind tunnel near the factory compared to one in
California). 2004 saw a stabilisation of results, but the team was
unable to challenge for points on a consistent basis. Jaguar's
Formula One parent company, Ford, issued a polite ultimatum as part
of a reduction in sport involvement internationally. In particular,
because Jaguar did not advertise the core Ford brand, there was
little return of value from the enormous amount of money invested,
so funding was reduced from Ford itself. Ford chose to sell the
operation near the end of 2004 despite a more consistent showing in
its previous two years. In mid-November 2004, energy drink company
Red Bull confirmed that they had purchased
the Jaguar Formula One team from Ford as an ongoing outfit. The new
team is named
Red Bull Racing and
used the chassis and engine that would have been Jaguar's 2005
Formula 1 challenger for its first season.
Ironically, in Jaguar's final season, the team received the most
publicity when two of the team's mechanics, having won an
inflatable donkey from the movie
Shrek from a
give-away on a fizzy drink can, photographed it around the paddock
at several races and set up a website (
donkeydoesf1.co.uk) for the pictures. After the
2004 Brazilian Grand Prix,
Bernie Ecclestone,
Max Mosley, much of the sport's management, and
every driver except
Michael
Schumacher signed the donkey, and the mechanics announced their
intention to auction it on
eBay and donate the
proceeds to charity. For the
2004
Monaco Grand Prix,
Jaguar's cars
were fitted with newly designed nose cones to promote the film
Ocean's Twelve.
Steinmetz Group diamonds worth in excess of
$250,000 USD were attached to the nose of each car, one of which
allegedly went missing after
Christian
Klien's first lap crash.
Drivers included
Eddie Irvine from 2000
- 2002,
Johnny Herbert in 2000,
Luciano Burti for a few races in 2001
and the Austrian GP in 2000,
Pedro de
la Rosa in 2001 and 2002,
Antônio Pizzonia in 2003 until
Hockenheim,
Mark Webber in 2003 and
2004,
Justin Wilson from Hockenheim to
the end of 2003, and
Christian Klien
in 2004.
Complete Formula One results
(
key) (results
in
bold indicate pole position)
See also