It is often the case that to truly appreciate the highs you must first experience the most abject of lows. A year ago, Jordan, after staring into the deepest of abysses, were beginning a seemingly interminable process of recovery and rehabilitation.

Having spent the first half of the season rudderless, pointless and riven by internal dissent, the tide began to turn at Silverstone when Ralf Schumacher scored a solitary point. Three races on and Jordan had nine more points. Granted there were likely to be few celebrations by season's end, but at least they hadn't sunk to the single-point depths of the 1992 season. Going into free practice at last year's Belgian Grand Prix, Jordan were still in damage limitation mode, making the most modest demands of the notoriously unforgiving Spa Franorchamps circuit.

Two days later and limits were a thing of the past. On Saturday, Hill stunned the watching audiences by pushing the Jordan 198 to third on the grid, ahead of Michael Schumacher. As the rain scythed down the next day and the field was decimated by a massive start-line shunt, Hill took calm control. The Englishman found the kind of tenacity that had seen him take the 1996 title, crossing the line marginally ahead of team-mate Ralf Schumacher and ahead of the remaining six cars, simultaneously resurrecting Jordan and catapulting the team back into the big leagues.

Come season's end they were fourth in the constructors' league, the team's best ever year. A year on, Jordan is a different animal. No longer on the fringes of Formula One's main stage, Jordan have become main players in the drama. Currently third in the constructors' championship with 42 points and with Heinz Harald Frentzen joint third in the drivers' title race, Jordan go into Spa '99 with a whole different philosophy.

"I think that we are as much stronger outfit than we were this time last year," says Eddie Jordan. "We've grown in stature and in style. We've discovered what it's like to win, we want to win and we want to continue to win. . . So let us hope that we can achieve our target of third in the constructors' title sooner rather than later."

It's a far cry from last year when the talk was of recriminations, explanations and eventually simple consolidation. Now the talk is all about possibilities.

The bullishness was demonstrated by both Jordan's drivers yesterday, first by Frentzen and then by the enigmatic Damon Hill. Frentzen, seeking to make third place in the drivers' championship his own once more, set the day's fourth fastest time and then, pushing harder still, ploughed his Jordan 199 off the circuit as he went through turn nine. "The accident was unnecessary and it was my fault," admitted the German, who, hailing from nearby Moencehengladbach almost considers this his home grand prix.

Frentzen's plunge into the barriers was watched by a trailing Hill and after the Englishman had slowed to check the damage and his teammate's status, Hill found a strange level of inspiration to nudge himself into fifth in the day's standings.

The memories yesterday helped push Jordan beyond Ferrari and almost into the realms of the McLarens who again looked majestic, with Coulthard quickest of all, a full half a second beyond third-placed Giancarlo Fisichella and a second beyond Frentzen. But for Eddie Irvine it was a continuation of his Hungarian nightmare. The Irishman suffered in Budapest with technical and handling difficulties and yesterday admitted that his Ferrari F399 was a similarly difficult beast in Belgium.

It's unlikely that Ferrari will remain unprogressive for long but while the head scratching at the Scuderia continues, the though must exist somewhere in the Jordan camp that repeating history may suddenly become a possibility.

Nick Heidfeld has signed as second driver for the Prost team. The 22-year-old German, won the formula 3000 championship in Hungary two weeks ago, has left his job as test-driver for McLaren.