Legendary F1 driver Michael Schumacher had a spectacular debut with Jordan back in 1991 as this performance helped him to catch the eye of the entire paddock. The seven-time Drivers’ Champion managed to qualify seventh, the team’s best grid position that season. However, unfortunately for him, Schumacher had to retire from the race after the first lap due to clutch problems.
With Schumacher having impressed everyone, the Jordan F1 team was undoubtedly desperate to have him. However, financial constraints involving a whopping debt of $5,000,000 prevented the team from keeping him and they had to look elsewhere as a result.
Since Jordan had such a high debt, they were also unable to keep hold of Ford as their engine supplier. And as a result, the team had to contact Yamaha, who was providing engines for free at the time. This partnership was a disaster as Yamaha is not famous for providing engines to F1 teams.
Since Jordan was suffering massively at this point, they were also at risk of going into bankruptcy. It was at this point that former F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone stepped in to provide them with the necessary finances. And alongside saving Jordan from bankruptcy, Ecclestone also helped Schumacher secure a move to Benetton.
Michael Schumacher moving to Benetton angered Jordan
Since Michael Schumacher moved to rivals Benetton, the Jordan F1 team was far from happy. However, Schumacher believes he had no other option considering the circumstances at that point. As quoted in his book, Michael Schumacher The Edge of Greatness, the German legend explained why under no circumstances he was keen on staying in Jordan after the team’s decision to move to Yamaha engines.
“We knew at the time that Jordan was going to get Yamaha engines and we felt that this would be catastrophic. Switching to Benetton was my big chance. And when that chance came up we grabbed it. It wasn’t pleasant, but that was what I had to do,” explained Schumacher.
And as it turns out, Schumacher did make the right call. After three decent seasons with Benetton from 1991 to 1993, the 54-year-old won his first two championships with the team in 1994 and 1995.
Jordan took Schumacher and Benetton to court over betrayal
Even though Michael Schumacher was only looking after his career by deciding to join Benetton, the Jordan F1 team saw this move as a sheer betrayal. Since Jordan had an agreement to have the German race for them for the remainder of the 1991 season, they decided to reach out to the courts to settle the matter.
However, the British courts did not take any action against Benetton or Schumacher since the Jordan team did not have a properly signed contract in place. Moreover, it is pertinent to note that Schumacher never betrayed Jordan in any way.
This is because as per the original agreement, the Jordan team had only signed Schumacher for one race after Mercedes paid them $200,000 to give the German a chance. It was only when Schumacher impressed them that they were keen on having him for the rest of the season.
And as for Jordan, they also needed this money to pay off their debt. Hence, it is fair to say that had Schumacher not made the bold call to leave the Jordan team back in 1991, his success is likely to have been much lesser than it is today.
