21 replies to this topic

[berge]

Was there alot of animosity between MS and Eddie Jordan over the use of team orders, telling RS to 'hold position', at that race?

Anybody have any info?

[Garagiste]

I do seem to recall MS coming out with something breathtakingly hypocritical, now you come to mention it..

[umapathypon]

I am not very sure about it. Ralf was very unhappy on being asked to hold station(and he was catching Hill pretty fast).Hill went on the radio to ask for team orders from Eddie.Intially when Ralf was told the decison,he did not respond.But he relented soon after. .
Reportedly,Michael was very unhappy with this and he went to talk to Eddie after the race(not sure whether this is true).

[berge]

Originally posted by umapathypon

Reportedly,Michael was very unhappy with this and he went to talk to Eddie after the race(not sure whether this is true).

actually, this is the part I'm most curious about.

[MuMu]

Michael did complain to Ediie about it, and Eddie (if I recall correctly) told him to mind his own business and that he'll run his team in whichever way he sees fit.
Thereafter Michael had a big hand in convincing Ralf to go to Williams, which Eddie wasn't too happy with.

[SeanValen]

Intense GP for Michael, intense season, and maybe the Ralf victory would settle it down a bit, but wasn't a good day for the Schumachers, dramatic day.

[KinetiK]

Just a quick point, Ralf was already attempting to get out of Jordan before the team orders thing, Michael likely had something to do with it but it wasn't as a result of the Spa finish.

So, with 19 laps to go, Damon Hill found himself back in the lead, but he was now under severe pressure from his team mate, Ralf. Eddie Jordan rightfully wanted to avoid an embarrassing clash between his two drivers and Ralf was given the order to follow Damon home. But with Ralf currently suing Jordan to release him from his contract so he can go to Williams next year, there was a sense that he might just choose to ignore team orders and go for the win.

source: http://www.atlasf1.c...bel/burley.html

An anecdote of an anecdote has it that MS paid through the nose for the Jordan car he owns, there's no love lost between Jordan and the Schumachers I don't think.

[MuMu]

Thanks Kinetik

[nja]

that's unusual as EJ seems to always speak very highly of MS, rating him higher than Senna etc. But then again, he loves to slip in.."i discovered him..." so perhaps an agenda there

[JR]

The audio clip is here:- http://www3.mistral....lScrewsRalf.mp3

Not exactly a well kept secret, but interesting to hear it actually mentioned within the Jordan family:- http://www3.mistral....nScrewAlesi.mp3

[Ross Stonefeld]

Wow, that is some impressive spin



What Jordan did were prudent, and consistent with what other teams running 1-2 at the end of a race do. Ask their drivers to behave. Especially in light of their first win, especailly in light of the conditions, and no doubt becuase of Ralf's recent behaviour.

[Melbourne Park]

Originally posted by KinetiK
...
An anecdote of an anecdote has it that MS paid through the nose for the Jordan car he owns, there's no love lost between Jordan and the Schumachers I don't think.

Well Ferrari have to pay through the nose for MS, and they do it every year. No doubt MS paid more than other F1 drivers would, and of course, could for such a car... on the other hand as a percentage of an F1 driver's income, MS would have paid a lower price than other F1 drivers ...

[Melbourne Park]

Originally posted by JR
The audio clip is here:- http://www3.mistral....lScrewsRalf.mp3
...

That MP3 really brings it home to me that 1998 was a heck of a lot more exciting than this year's been. Thanks for the link. Not sure what the one about the McLaren is all about.

[tifoso]

From Against the Odds: Jordan's Drive to Win, by Jon Nicholson and Maurice Hamilton:

An hour or so later, when there was a brief lull, EJ took the opportunity to seek out Ralf and reassure him. To his surprise, Eddie found that Michael had dropped in to see his brother. This was a nice guesture -- or so EJ believed -- given that Ralf had finished second and Jordan (the team which ad given Michael his first Formula 1 drive at this very circuit) had won its first Grand Prix.

Michael offered his congratulations. Then he asked why his brother had not been allowed to win the race. After all, he said, Ralf had been quicker than Damon in the closing stages.

EJ could not believe what he was hearing. Once he had recovered his composure, he gently explained that the team came first, and besides, Michael was hardly the one to talk about the best man winning when, on at least one occasion, Eddie Irvine had given up the chance of his first victory for the sake of his teammate. OK, Eddie was the number two and Ralf had joint status with Damon.

Of course, this is all from Team Jordan's point of view...but have at it.

[berge]

"Michael offered his congratulations. Then he asked why his brother had not been allowed to win the race. After all, he said, Ralf had been quicker than Damon in the closing stages."

this is exactly what I was looking for.

thank you everybody.

[KinetiK]

Originally posted by Melbourne Park


Well Ferrari have to pay through the nose for MS, and they do it every year. No doubt MS paid more than other F1 drivers would, and of course, could for such a car... on the other hand as a percentage of an F1 driver's income, MS would have paid a lower price than other F1 drivers ...

haha, fair enough. That's just idle talk I remember from some Schumacherite complaining about Michael's poor treatment at the hands of the vile Eddie Jordan!

[Al.]

Originally posted by Melbourne Park

That MP3 really brings it home to me that 1998 was a heck of a lot more exciting than this year's been. Thanks for the link. Not sure what the one about the McLaren is all about.

Re McLaren.

After a safety car period the order was Hill then Ralf then Alesi ( In a Ferrari powered Sauber) Between Ralf and Alesi was a very lapped DC in the surviving McLaren. Ron spent the last part of the race on the Jordan pitwall laughing and joking with Eddie. (Oh and it was raining and Alesi was considered good in the rain) I don't believe Alesi ever did pass DC who eventually (in a better car ) pulled away but stayed behind the Jordans (I think).

There was much speculation as to what Ron spoke about. Eddie's kid asked the question everyone wanted an answer to. Mitch McCann even ran a competition.

Insider Spa 98

[BRG]

Sometimes Michael reminds me of one of those karting dads that go and harangue the clerk of the course or get into fights with other dads when their little lad gets into trouble.

Except that it is his little brother that he intervenes for. But if he is like that now, what will he be like when his children start racing?

[Viktor]

I think the main argument was that Ralf was held up behind Hill while Alesi was closing on Ralf. If you look at the lap chart on Forix http://www.forix.com...rh/RH_09813.GIF you can se that Hill was a que leader.
After the race it was found that Hill had a slow puncture on his tyre and was lucky to get to the finish.

/Viktor

[Foxbat]

Originally posted by BRG
Sometimes Michael reminds me of one of those karting dads that go and harangue the clerk of the course or get into fights with other dads when their little lad gets into trouble.

Except that it is his little brother that he intervenes for. But if he is like that now, what will he be like when his children start racing?

Care to mention all those incidents?
In this case it would seem to me that he wouldn't have been in too good a mood anyway when he went to have a chat with his brother, where he found out that he wasn't the only Schumacher denied a victory that day...

[Oho]

Originally posted by Viktor
I think the main argument was that Ralf was held up behind Hill while Alesi was closing on Ralf. If you look at the lap chart on Forix http://www.forix.com...rh/RH_09813.GIF you can se that Hill was a que leader.
After the race it was found that Hill had a slow puncture on his tyre and was lucky to get to the finish.

/Viktor

Ave !!

Hill had an ailing car, he had a puncture in the other rear tyre making the car increasingly difficult to drive. It was not a fair contest between Ralfie and Damon considering that Damon lost his lead on Ralf to safety car and was hampered by a leaking tyre. In that light I totally agree with Eddie freezing the situation. It certainly was no place for Micheal to go bitching about.

- Oho -

[MichiganF1]

Whatta great race. Hopefully we can see one of those again soon.