Being a German by birth, Michael Schumacher was backed by Mercedes, a giant in the automobile industry. However, they couldn’t directly help him get into F1, as this was before they became an actual team. Therefore, they paired with Sauber to help Schumacher but it wasn’t straightforward. This move getting delayed resulted in Eddie Jordan landing Schumacher on his team, on a “pay per race” basis.
Ex F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone convinced Jordan to give Schumacher a shot. In return, he would have been paid a sum of $190,000 per race. Jordan was not in a good place financially, and Ecclestone knew this. Hence, this money was offered to keep the team afloat.
Years later, the former F1 team boss has opened up on this in the Formula For Success podcast. He said,
“Bernie came to me. And Bernie said listen Jordan you’re going out of business. I can’t possibly how you’re going to survive. Take the money, go. Just take as much as you can off the table and I took the money off the table from Mercedes for Schumacher.“
As per the agreement, Jordan would have been paid over a million over the course of the season for giving a seat to Schumacher. Furthermore, the next two seasons would have seen the Jordan F1 team make $3.5 million and it was of extreme importance for the team to remain in the sport. Nevertheless, their monetary trouble didn’t last long.
How was Michael Schumacher’s time with Jordan?
With Eddie Jordan agreeing to hire Schumacher on a pay per race basis, the German driver kickstarted his F1 career driving under the Irishman. However, it didn’t last very long, as he left the team after competing in just one Grand Prix.
Schumacher was slated to race for imprisoned Bertrand Gachot and it was an uphill task for him to race in the challenging Spa-Francorchamps track. Schumacher didn’t know his way around here, but was aware of how difficult he was. While preparing for the race, he learnt the layout all by himself, by cycling around the track.
Eventually, he qualified in a brilliant P7, driving a car that was labeled as sluggish at its best. This was the team’s best qualification result that year and he also out-qualified his teammate Andrea de Cesaris. However, his Jordan stint didn’t last long as he switched to Benetton that year itself.
Soon after, Michael Schumacher became a renowned name in the grid, winning the 1994 and 1995 titles with Benetton. A few years later, he would go on to win five consecutive world titles with Ferrari, which established him as the greatest driver of all time.
