Jordan EJ13

Overview

The team slumped due to lack of sponsorship and Honda left Jordan to concentrate on their partnership with BAR. Jordan had to make do with 2002-specification Cosworth CR-4 engines badged as Ford RS1, and the season was not regarded as a success. The EJ13 debuted in January 2003 in Barcelona.

Despite beating only Minardi to rank 9th in the standings, Jordan won in 2003. The victory came under extraordinary circumstances in the 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix which took place in torrential weather conditions. Following a massive accident on the start / finish straight, the race was red flagged and stopped. After some initial confusion, Giancarlo Fisichella was initially ruled to have finished a still remarkable second behind Kimi Räikkönen who took the top step on the podium. However, an FIA inquiry several days later led to Fisichella being officially declared the winner of his first F1 race. Fisichella was, therefore, unable to celebrate his first career victory on the top step of the podium, although he and Räikkönen swapped trophies in a presentation at the following Grand Prix. Aside from the unlikely win, neither Fisichella or new teammate Ralph Firman were able to have any sort of success in their Jordans. After Firman was injured in practice for the 2003 Hungarian Grand Prix Jordan fielded the first ever Hungarian Formula One driver, Zsolt Baumgartner. Firman returned for the final two events, but was unable to add to the point he won in Spain. Fisichella only managed two points on top of his victory and unhappy at the team's slump he departed for Sauber.

In June 2003 Jordan sued mobile phone company Vodafone for £150 million, claiming that the company had made a verbal contract for a three-year sponsorship, then gave it to Ferrari instead. Jordan withdrew the action two months later, agreeing to pay Vodafone's costs. This was a double financial blow from which the team did not recover. The judge was highly critical of Eddie Jordan, branding the allegations against Vodafone "without foundation and false".

Sponsorship and livery

As in previous years, the basic color of the car was yellow; The front and rear wings, T-cam and side pods were black. The main sponsor remained the tobacco brand Benson & Hedges, which advertised on both wings, the nose, the side pods and on the driver's helmets, even if it only provided a fraction of the funds that, for example, were available for 2000 and 2001. Other sponsors including Liqui Moly, CCTV and Brother.

In countries where advertising tobacco products was not allowed, the Benson & Hedges logo was replaced by "Be on Edge" (Benson & Hedges minus the 'n', 's','&', 'H' and 's').

Jordan used an alternative livery with Sobranie logos during a demonstration run by Firman at the Macau Grand Prix.

Later use

The chassis driven by Giancarlo Fisichella in his debut win at Interlagos is currently hanging in the wall of Brazilian TV show host Otávio Mesquita's living room. According to Mesquita, he acquired the model, which was sold without the engine and gearbox, from a deceased Jordan ex-director in 2007. In that same year, Fisichella autographed the front nose of the car during a house party for the inauguration of Mesquita's mansion.

Another EJ13 chassis was occasionally used in BOSS GP, especially in 2018 and 2019.

Complete Formula One results

(key) (results in bold indicate pole position)

References

References

1. "Engine Ford Cosworth • STATS F1".
2. (18 February 2003). "Jordan unveil new livery". Motorsports.com.
3. (16 January 2003). "Jordan Positive after EJ13 Shakedown". Autosport.com.
4. (8 January 2003). "Jordan sets date for EJ13 debut". AutoSport.com.
5. (11 January 2003). "Jordan set to run new EJ13-Ford". dailyf1.com (via Auto123.com).
6. (29 April 2021). "5 Formula 1 Cars That Surprisingly Won A Grand Prix (5 That Should Have, But Didn't)". Hot Cars.
7. (3 August 2022). "Por que carro usado na F1 está fixado na parede da casa de Otávio Mesquita?". UOL.com.