Jordan is gunning for engine cost limit

MOTOR SPORT/Hungarian Grand Prix: Eddie Jordan has insisted Formula One's major motor manufacturers will have to provide teams with customer engines for $10 million or else the sport risks losing his and other privateer teams, writes Justin Hynes in Budapest

Jordan is locked in negotiations with engine supplier Ford over the continuance of their three-year deal and yesterday Jordan insisted the company would have to meet his vision of a $10 million maximum.

"I don't want to be in these negotiations. I'm very happy with our relationship with Ford-Cosworth, but I want to get to the figure I've worked into my budget for next year," said the troubled team owner.

"The issue at stake here, ultimately, is do the major manufacturers want three privateer teams in Formula One?" he added. "If they do we need all 10 teams to sit down and discuss ways in which we can make that happen."

Jordan's pursuit of a supply of affordable powerplants stems from a meeting of team principals in January at which it was agreed the manufacturers would seek to supply engines for $10 million. In May, at the Austrian Grand Prix, spokesman Norbert Haug said Mercedes would be able to supply engines for the magic figure and admitted the team had been in discussion with a number of teams. Jordan was believed to be one of those teams.

Since then, the bulk of manufacturers, Mercedes included, have distanced themselves from the plan, saying it is not feasible to provide engines for that figure.

Jordan, though, has held the manufacturers at their word and is seeking a reduction on costs from Cosworth if he is to continue with his deal with the company. Jordan pays in the region of $16 million of the rumoured $21 million cost, with Ford of Europe paying the balance.

Meanwhile, David Coulthard has retained his drive at McLaren for another year, but it is still anticipated the Scot will make way for Juan Pablo Montoya at the end of next season in a radical shake-up of the F1 driver pool.

As anticipated at the German Grand Prix three weeks ago, McLaren yesterday announced an unchanged driver line-up for 2004 with Coulthard and Kimi Raikkonen to lead the Mercedes-powered team's assault on next season's drivers' and constructors' titles.

Next season, though, is expected to be Coulthard's last with the Woking-based team. It has been rumoured for some time that Montoya, dissatisfied with his deal at Williams, has negotiated himself a move to McLaren in 2005, for a suggested annual fee of $8.5 million, almost four times the figure he takes home under his Williams contract.

If Montoya does eventually move to McLaren, it is likely to spark a major upheaval in the driver market, as a potentially championship-winning drive is freed up at Williams.

Meanwhile, on the track, the weekend's first qualifying session was dominated by Michelin-shod cars, with Renault's Jarno Trulli setting himself up for the ideal run in this afternoon's grid-determining second qualifying session by recording yesterday's fastest time.

Renault's agile car is ideally suited to the tight and twisting Hungaroring and while the French team's lack of power has militated against them at other more horse-power-hungry circuits, this weekend's venue is the second-slowest on the calendar and the French marque's drivers are expected to perform well.

Trulli led yesterday from Ralf Schumacher, the German clearly inspired by the transformation of his 10-grid penalty to a cash fine of $50,000.

Jaguar's Mark Webber finished the day fourth, ahead of Coulthard, with Rubens Barrichello the first of the Bridgestone runners, the Ferrari driver taking fifth.

Championship leader Michael Schumacher, first out and hampered perhaps by the dusty nature of the track, could do no better than ninth. But his time still puts him into the more beneficial final half of today's running order, when the track should be at its best.

Schumacher's closest championship rival, Montoya, too, was hindered by track conditions and finished one place ahead of the defending champion after he erred midway through his lap, locking up his front left wheel and losing valuable tenths of a second.

The Jordans of Ralph Firman and Giancarlo Fisichella will be out fourth and fifth in this afternoon's order after they finished 17th and 16th respectively.