9 JORDAN 197

BEST RESULT 2ND 97 BELGIAN GP BEST QUALIFYING 2ND SUPERTIME POSITION 5TH DESIGNER GARY ANDERSON

We almost picked the Jordan 191 for this list, but former Jordan designer Gary Anderson reckoned the team’s 1997 contender was a better choice: The Jordan 197 was strong right out of the box and was good enough to win on the right weekend if everyone did a good job. At the initial Jerez test the car wasn’t quite ready, so Ralf Schumacher, who was a rookie for 1997, got some mileage in the ’96 car. Then he got in the 197 and, after the shakedown laps, on his first proper run he found it was a massive improvement in terms of performance and driveability. When he came in he had a massive smile on his face. Alongside him, we had Giancarlo Fisichella.

We never ran the car on low fuel and fresh rubber, so when we got to the first race in Australia we struggled in qualifying. But we tested at Silverstone afterwards and sorted out the balance in that trim and after that the car was a joy to work with. Giancarlo finished second at Spa and third in Canada, with Ralf third in Argentina after they collided with each other.

But we didn’t quite get the win, which was a shame.

The German Grand Prix was the best race we did. Fisi started second and led after the stops, but spent too much time looking in his mirrors and Gerhard Berger passed him. Then he got a puncture from running over a piece from Jan Magnussen’s

Cosworth engine and tore up the sidepod.

Had Rubens Barrichello stayed with the team, it’s possible we might have got that win. It’s not that he was more talented, but he was ready. He wouldn’t have had the Argentina collision and would have handled leading in Germany well.

The car was good in high-downforce too – in Monaco we qualified fourth and sixth. Rubens finished second that year for Stewart, so just maybe in the Jordan he could have gone one better.