‘Welcome to Piranha Club’ – Eddie Jordan got furious Michael Schumacher to pay $2.5m for brother’s career
F1 has sadly said goodbye to the sport’s greatest deal-maker who gave Michael Schumacher his start – and made him pay millions for his brother’s end. Eddie Jordan, who has died aged 76 following a battle with cancer, was infectious, flamboyant and gladly everything in between. Eddie Jordan handed Michael Schumacher his start in F1Getty The Irishman, hailed by Anthony Hamilton as ‘one of the biggest characters of F1’, knew how to make waves both on and off the track. His Jordan Grand Prix team entered F1 in 1991 with their iconic yellow livery and a certain fresh-blooded Schumacher behind the wheel. The future seven-time world champion set down a marker for what was to come by qualifying seventh at the Belgian Grand Prix – four spots above his Italian veteran teammate Andrea de Cesaris despite never having driven around the iconic Spa-Francorchamps before. However, Schumacher memorably entered the sport’s folklore by quitting after just one race for Benetton. The ruthless introduction to life on the grid led to a phrase that has since become synonymous with F1’s lexicon when McLaren boss Ron Dennis told Jordan: “Welcome to the Piranha Club”. It took nearly a decade for the latter to exact any sort of revenge on Schumacher for leaving – and it involved hitting close to home. Ralf Schumacher followed in his older brother Michael’s footsteps by debuting in F1 with Jordan at the 1997 Australian Grand Prix. A solid debut campaign highlighted by a podium finish in his third race sparked hopes it would be second-time lucky for the 49-year-old. However, at the same track in which Michael competed in his only race for Jordan, Ralf left a bigger mark at Spa with the team in 1998. The latter infamously was denied by team orders the chance to deliver Jordan’s first F1 win when he was forced to settle for second behind teammate and race winner Damon Hill. Jordan’s first F1 win came through a one-two at the 1998 Belgian PrixAFP Michael Schumacher, then at the start of his iconic Ferrari run, had already retired following a collision with David Coulthard. The pair’s subsequent confrontation in the pits remains well-known – what isn’t was Michael then directing his fury at Jordan for costing his brother the opportunity to stand on the top step of the podium. Jordan reportedly said: “Michael was being an absolute nut-head. “I reminded him that his race suit wasn’t the same colour as my cars and told him to mind his own business.” His comments were later backed up by Ralf, who told German site Formel1.de last year: “Did Michael go to Eddie Jordan furious after that race? Yes, that’s true. “But at the time, I didn’t know about it; Eddie Jordan told me later. What did Michael say? Well, he made it very clear that I wouldn’t be driving for Jordan the following year.” Michael Schumacher (right) paid millions to get brother Ralf (left) into WilliamsGetty Despite Schumacher leaving Jordan, the pair remained close before the former’s 2013 skiing accidentGetty Ferrari legend Michael did live up to that promise – but Jordan revealed later it came at great personal cost to facilitate Ralf’s move to Williams in 1999. In an interview with F1 journalist Peter Windsor on YouTube in 2021, Dubliner Jordan said: “It ended well for all of us because Michael Schumacher paid me two million quid to tear up the contract with Ralf, which I was very happy to receive I must tell you. “It’s true – Nothing ever passes Jordan’s doorsteps without somebody paying for it. “In this case, it was Michael Schumacher and it was my little way of getting him back for all those years that went passed. No problem!” Ralf eventually landed at Toyota before bowing out of F1 in 2007 with zero titles, six wins and 21 podiums – seven, 85 and 134 fewer than Michael. German Ralf was told by Jordan in January 2024 that he could have won the 1999 F1 world title had he stayed with his team. The younger Schumacher finished three places behind his replacement Heinz-Harald Frentzen in sixth in the standings, with the latter’s two race wins that season proving the Jordan 199 did have the pace to compete. Speaking on his Formula For Success podcast, Jordan said: “I was never sure how close you [Ralf] were with Michael. But when he came to me at Spa and he says ‘Ralf will never drive for you again,’ and I remember saying to him. “I kind of took out my palm [and said] ‘look, there’s a contract, there’s a buyout clause in the contract. Pay the money, off he goes. No problem.’ He was quiet and he went. “Eventually, I believe it was a mistake, because the 1999 car was a world championship winner – you [Ralf], could’ve won the world championship in that car.”
F1 has sadly said goodbye to the sport’s greatest deal-maker who gave Michael Schumacher his start – and made him pay millions for his brother’s end.
Eddie Jordan, who has died aged 76 following a battle with cancer, was infectious, flamboyant and gladly everything in between.
The Irishman, hailed by Anthony Hamilton as ‘one of the biggest characters of F1’, knew how to make waves both on and off the track.
His Jordan Grand Prix team entered F1 in 1991 with their iconic yellow livery and a certain fresh-blooded Schumacher behind the wheel.
The future seven-time world champion set down a marker for what was to come by qualifying seventh at the Belgian Grand Prix – four spots above his Italian veteran teammate Andrea de Cesaris despite never having driven around the iconic Spa-Francorchamps before.
However, Schumacher memorably entered the sport’s folklore by quitting after just one race for Benetton.
The ruthless introduction to life on the grid led to a phrase that has since become synonymous with F1’s lexicon when McLaren boss Ron Dennis told Jordan: “Welcome to the Piranha Club”.
It took nearly a decade for the latter to exact any sort of revenge on Schumacher for leaving – and it involved hitting close to home.
Ralf Schumacher followed in his older brother Michael’s footsteps by debuting in F1 with Jordan at the 1997 Australian Grand Prix.
A solid debut campaign highlighted by a podium finish in his third race sparked hopes it would be second-time lucky for the 49-year-old.
However, at the same track in which Michael competed in his only race for Jordan, Ralf left a bigger mark at Spa with the team in 1998.
The latter infamously was denied by team orders the chance to deliver Jordan’s first F1 win when he was forced to settle for second behind teammate and race winner Damon Hill.
Michael Schumacher, then at the start of his iconic Ferrari run, had already retired following a collision with David Coulthard.
The pair’s subsequent confrontation in the pits remains well-known – what isn’t was Michael then directing his fury at Jordan for costing his brother the opportunity to stand on the top step of the podium.
Jordan reportedly said: “Michael was being an absolute nut-head.
“I reminded him that his race suit wasn’t the same colour as my cars and told him to mind his own business.”
His comments were later backed up by Ralf, who told German site Formel1.de last year: “Did Michael go to Eddie Jordan furious after that race? Yes, that’s true.
“But at the time, I didn’t know about it; Eddie Jordan told me later. What did Michael say? Well, he made it very clear that I wouldn’t be driving for Jordan the following year.”
Ferrari legend Michael did live up to that promise – but Jordan revealed later it came at great personal cost to facilitate Ralf’s move to Williams in 1999.
In an interview with F1 journalist Peter Windsor on YouTube in 2021, Dubliner Jordan said: “It ended well for all of us because Michael Schumacher paid me two million quid to tear up the contract with Ralf, which I was very happy to receive I must tell you.
“It’s true – Nothing ever passes Jordan’s doorsteps without somebody paying for it.
“In this case, it was Michael Schumacher and it was my little way of getting him back for all those years that went passed. No problem!”
Ralf eventually landed at Toyota before bowing out of F1 in 2007 with zero titles, six wins and 21 podiums – seven, 85 and 134 fewer than Michael.
German Ralf was told by Jordan in January 2024 that he could have won the 1999 F1 world title had he stayed with his team.
The younger Schumacher finished three places behind his replacement Heinz-Harald Frentzen in sixth in the standings, with the latter’s two race wins that season proving the Jordan 199 did have the pace to compete.
Speaking on his Formula For Success podcast, Jordan said: “I was never sure how close you [Ralf] were with Michael. But when he came to me at Spa and he says ‘Ralf will never drive for you again,’ and I remember saying to him.
“I kind of took out my palm [and said] ‘look, there’s a contract, there’s a buyout clause in the contract. Pay the money, off he goes. No problem.’ He was quiet and he went.
“Eventually, I believe it was a mistake, because the 1999 car was a world championship winner – you [Ralf], could’ve won the world championship in that car.”
