This week's Grapevine brings you information fresh from the paddock on: Mercedes Fighting the Curve Fair Weather for Jordan

Mercedes Fighting the Curve

With BMW and Ferrari driving each other forward in the engine stakes, Mercedes are starting to look like the poor relation amongst the front runners – and they really don't like it.

Getting back to the front is not going to be easy, either. Both Ferrari and BMW are continuing to develop their engines flat out, ensuring a considerable part of the effort Ilmor are putting into the job is effectively spent standing still, compared to the competition. Clearly, not a good place to be.

Since the CART engine program was discontinued, Ilmor have no distractions for 2003; the focus is on getting the Formula One program sorted out: it needs to be at least on a par with the leaders by the end of the season. Having Mercedes continue to be seen as less powerful than BMW is causing headaches for the marketing men. Accordingly, despite the tough financial climate, this program is due to receive whatever funding is required to make the mark. Which is only good news if the problems can be solved by throwing money at them – in fact, give or take the hiring of talented engineers, the costs are relatively well defined.

Returning to the point… Ilmor seem to think that engine lubrication is where BMW at least are gaining their biggest advantage. For the BMW engine to exceed 19,000 rpm, and yet offer the fuel efficiency displayed through the season, it speaks volumes about the low internal resistances that the moving parts of the engine experience. Lubrication, whilst almost never mentioned, is one of the most important aspects of an engine; the characteristics of the oil dictate the limits of operation. Controlling friction is vital to directly control wear, temperatures and component velocity, indirectly dictating tolerances, whilst analysis of the oil permits engineers to identify not only how badly the engine is wearing, but which components are experiencing that wear. So, clearly, if a competitor has discovered an edge in lubrication, it can translate to a significant performance margin over the course of a race.

Although the engine manufacturers, by and large, are concerned with controlling the transition to the FIA's stricter guidelines by the British Grand Prix, removing traction control, launch control and automatic gearboxes, the quest for power continues. To handle the rule changes, Ilmor want to work on smoothing the power curve, and making the engine more tolerant to trauma from the drive-shaft… In the meanwhile, as Mobil evolves more effective lubricants, the engine will gain power, reliability and efficiency.

However, Ferrari and BMW are not standing still, and there's doubt that Mercedes will close over the coming season.

Fair Weather for Jordan

Eddie Jordan is well known for his wheeler-dealer style, and, to date, it has stood him in remarkable stead in the Formula One paddock, as he has managed not only to keep his outfit alive, but also out-performing the budget it works with. In 2003, if his plans come together, this reputation is going to grow further.

When Arrows broke up, there was the promise of another bun-fight over the funds due the defunct team under the Concorde Agreement. This time, the FIA stepped in to ensure the Arrows money went to Jordan, Minardi and Sauber, rather than be split up equally, or be argued over. Whilst the other seven teams would certainly have made use of the funds, there is not arguing that for those that received it, the money represents the difference between struggling to ensure survival through the year, and being able to go racing.

Like all the teams in Formula One, Jordan is not there just to make up the numbers. When he started out, it was in anticipation of building an outfit that could take the fight to the front runners of the day – the same big three that dominate at the moment. With no way to compete on a level budget, Jordan's approach was based on the Tyrrell concept of innovation: gather a kernel of excellent engineers, put together a good car on a tight budget, and find a driver who can do something with it… and another to bolster the budget enough to finish the year.

Since then, Jordan's approach to drivers has been that of a tightrope walker. Hiring drivers has always been a case of attempting to swing a significant budget from sponsors – Benson and Hedges, in particular, have rewarded Jordan well whenever his books have listed a Briton in the race seat. Riding the edge between drivers who bring money into the team, but still perform, and experience, to drive the car and team forward, has consistently been one of Jordan's strengths. When using the services of 'pay drivers,' they have always been promising, talented youngsters. Even Takuma Sato, who, despite his speed, seemed unable to stay on the track for a race distance, came through for the team when it mattered, with his points finish in Japan.

Looking at 2003, Jordan's biggest constraint, as usual, is budget. When cutting down the workforce last year, the restructuring that took place made the best of the job that had to be done. The remaining engineers are pulling together, looking to make the best of the revised organisation. Since completing development on last season's car, they have worked hard to design and build the new model, accommodating a brand new engine. After the misleading promises from Honda, the design team has been re-discovering the benefits of packaging a unit that delivers according to specification. The reduced weight allows for a more balanced chassis, whilst the dimensions of the engine lets the aerodynamicists clean up the airflow around the back of the car a little more – promoting the aerodynamic balance. All things considered, the car is expected to considerably outperform last year's, despite being put together for little more than three-quarters of the budget.

Having a driver of Fisichella's calibre to drive the car next year is vital. The future of the team remains based on performance, and there are very few people around who can do a better job than the Italian, who can be relied upon to practically carry the team, if his teammate isn't up to scratch… but Jordan doesn't think that this will be the case next year.

Talks with Eddie Irvine broke down when the additional money Benson and Hedges were prepared to offer specifically to bring him on board would do little more than pay his salary. Irvine's value to a team is his considerable development experience, and a solid reliability record in races. However, what the team need, is someone who can bring in the money to fund development, and be quick on the track… something like Sato, but better funded.

Enrique Bernoldi's opening offer for a race seat is supposed to have been five million dollars; however, it appears that Jordan is considering an interesting alternative. Bernoldi's millions would bring the team the funding it needs, but the Brazilian just does not have the performance Jordan is looking for. Felipe Massa, on the other hand, has this performance, though he is struggling to make up the funding level that Bernoldi offers.

However, what is threatening to make Jordan's year, is that Benson and Hedges are interested in going out on a high. After Jenson Button's successful introduction to the sport at Williams, B&H are supposed to be offering Jordan some five million dollars over the next two years, if he can find a talented British youngster to hire. This is why rumours that a number of young drivers, particularly 2002 Formula Nippon winner Ralph Firman, are being linked to the team. Giving the youngsters a head start on finding the funds for an F1 seat could be enough for them to make the break...

If nothing else, as the second seat is left open, it seems the sponsors of the hopefuls are considering what they need to do to close the deal with Jordan. Which, of course, is music to the ears of Eddie Jordan, who is finally looking set to be fully funded for 2003, before the season opener.