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Jordan sale to Midland F1 'agreed'
Eddie Jordan will move from being team boss to commercial director
Eddie Jordan has agreed to sell his Formula 1 team to Russian entrepreneur Alex Shnaider, autosport.com can exclusively reveal, with an announcement confirming the news due to be made next Sunday. The deal will bring an end to Jordan's 14-year tenure as F1's most charismatic team boss.
Following weeks of negotiations between Shnaider, who is the man behind the new Midland F1 outfit, and Jordan, sources have revealed to autosport.com that an agreement has been reached that is ideal for both the men. A final contract has yet to be signed, however.
It is understood that Shnaider will take over the outfit as its new team principal, with Jordan being moved into a role as commercial director. Other staff changes are also taking place, one of which could be that Midland F1's advisor Trevor Carlin takes over as team manager.
It is not known whether the name of the team will be changed but one suggestion is that it will become known as ‘Midland Jordan'. Sources claim an official announcement could be made as early as next week, although is currently scheduled to be made on January 23.
Speaking to autosport, Jordan confirmed that changes were afoot. “No deal has yet been finalised,” he said. “But my role will change.”
Only one day ago, Jordan admitted that his role with the team was likely to change and suggested that he would be moving more towards the commercial side of activities.
"We are going forward strongly and it is business as usual," Jordan told The Guardian. "The 2005 programme with us switching to Toyota engines is going ahead and we are not changing any people on the payroll. But my role may change to concentrate more on the commercial side to work on future investment in the team.
"We could obviously be stronger and I would be happy to bring aboard new partners even if it meant diluting my own equity stake in the company, if it meant we could get back to the situation where there was a possibility of winning races."
Shnaider's buy-in of the F1 outfit has been referred to by another team boss as a ‘no brainer' compared to entering the sport entirely with his own outfit because of the financial complexities of the sport.
Had Midland F1 entered grand prix racing in 2006, the team would first of all had to pay an entry deposit of $48 million. On top of that, sources claim that because of the way the Concorde Agreement is structured, the team would not be entitled to any television rights money until 2008 at the earliest and would not be allowed to sit on Formula 1's Technical Working Group or vote in the F1 Commission.
The Jordan deal now ensures that Midland F1 will be able to take advantage of the television money that the Silverstone-based outfit receives and play a role in the future direction of F1.
And although Italian racing car constructor Dallara has been commissioned to design the Midland F1 car for 2006, the outfit's technical advisor Gary Anderson has confirmed that it will be impossible for it to get its own car ready for this season – meaning that Jordan's current chassis developments will be used in 2005.
