Eddie Jordan more than doubled his team's World Championship points tally and moved into fifth place in the Constructors' Championship with yesterday's double points finish behind the dominant McLaren-Mercedes team at the German Grand Prix in Hockenheim.

Damon Hill's one-stop strategy worked to deliver his best result in 12 months - fourth place and his first points for Jordan - while Ralf Schumacher's tenacious early challenge on the McLarens yielded only sixth place, after a two-stop strategy proved unwise. In recent months, Hill has come in for heavy criticism and the likelihood is that his re-signing fee with Jordan will drop by almost £2 million as a result of his dismal form. Yesterday Hill responded, on a circuit that ideally suited the high-revving Jordan, with by far his best drive of the season.

"The issue we had before the race was the pit-stop strategy," Hill said afterwards. "If it got hot, then two stops, for sure, was the way to go. But if it stayed under 30 degrees then one stop was a better bet. We decided the Ralf would go two stops and I would take one - to spread the risk".

Hill got his Jordan off the line well and passed his former teammate Jacques Villeneuve into the first corner. The pair battled it out for the first lap until the Canadian re-took fourth. "On a one-stop strategy, I had to nurse the tyres a bit," he admitted. "It was what I call a proper race - with people to chase and people to try to keep behind me. Mugen Honda have done a great job. During the race the car felt good the whole way. My only real problem was when Takagi nearly took me off as I was lapping him in the stadium section. "It's nice to get a few points on the scoreboard. A lot of people in the team have worked very hard and it's clear now we are getting on the pace." He also spoke of his battle to keep his old rival Michael Scumacher behind: "He was closing very fast at one stage, but there's nothing like the inspiration of wanting to hold on to fourth place to keep you going."

Eddie Jordan was equally pleased with the weekend's work. "Four races ago this was unthinkable. Even the Minardis - no disrespect - were up with us. Now we are challenging strongly and it's due to a number of factors. Gary Anderson and his team have done a fantastic job. Mugen Honda have really raised their game and provided a strong powerful engine. They are doing a great job in only our first season together.

"I also have to say, though, that I thought the pit crew were stars. Three stops all less than nine seconds," he added.

One aspect of the race that gave Jordan particularly satisfaction was being able to show a clean pair of heels to Ferrari, but that meant the worst race of the year for Eddie Irvine. "The car had no grip all weekend," he said. "It's bad because McLaren scored a one-two and Michael and I have now a real gap to Hakkinen and Coulthard in the championship. We will have to work out why we were off the pace, but I think Hungary will suit us better."

In The Points

1 M Hakkinen (Fin) McLaren - 10

2 D Coulthard (Scot) McLaren - 6

3 J Villeneuve (Can) Williams - 4

4 D Hill (Eng) Jordan - 3

5 M Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari - 2

6 R Schumacher (Ger) Jordan - 1