The excellent 1997 championship ended with 33 points and fifth place in the Constructors' standings, the best result in the still brief history of Eddie Jordan's team, pushing the Irish outfit to aim for another step forward toward the top positions. In this light came the signing of former World Champion Damon Hill, a driver with a highly respectable past and well-known in the Formula 1 world for his excellent testing abilities. The Englishman took the place of Giancarlo Fisichella, who moved to Benetton, and joined the confirmed German driver Ralf Schumacher, younger brother of World Champion Michael. Eddie Jordan also hired a third driver, Spaniard Pedro de la Rosa, who used the new Jordan 198 during the 1998 test sessions. The switch of Peugeot engines to the French Prost Grand Prix team did not discourage Eddie Jordan who, on the contrary, found renewed energy in an exclusive supply deal with Mugen-Honda for the powerful and reliable MF-310HC engine, a 72° V10 derived from the prestigious Honda V10s that dominated the late 1980s on McLaren cars driven by Prost and Senna. Compared to the “B” version used in '97 by Prost Grand Prix, the Japanese V10 was completely revised over the winter, now lighter, more compact, and capable of delivering around 710 hp at 13,800 rpm.
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| JORDAN 198, Damon Hill Montréal, Canadian GP 1998 |
To design the new Jordan 198, the entire 1997 technical staff was confirmed, with the usual Gary Anderson as Technical Director, Paul Crooks as Chief Designer, and Mark Smith as Chief Engineer. They were joined by John Iley, an aerodynamic engineer who, after working on the EuroBrun project in '89, moved to the United States where he developed single-seaters for Newman-Haas, Lola Cars, and Swift Engineering, before returning to Jordan in 1995, now serving as Head of Aerodynamics. In 1998, Eddie Jordan's team also acquired a wind tunnel in Brackley, allowing Gary Anderson to refine the new car, an evolution of the already successful 197 from the previous season. For '98, the yellow-and-black livery from '97 was confirmed, still featuring the snake-head design on the car's nose, although the aerodynamic shapes changed considerably.
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| JORDAN 198, Ralf Schumacher Interlagos, Brazilian GP 1998 |
The new nosecone, still high and with the classic full-width wing supported by two pylons, was now squarer, more elongated, and straighter in shape. The sidepods lost the characteristic violin-case shape typical of Anderson's latest creations, becoming more squared-off with very large, perpendicular radiator inlets. The rear section and air intake above the driver’s head remained almost unchanged. Mechanically, the car featured a new carbon-fiber honeycomb composite chassis, push-rod suspension with double unequal-length wishbones, designed specifically to work well with the new grooved Goodyear tires. Thanks to Mugen-Honda's efforts to lighten the Japanese V10, the reduced track widths, and increasingly advanced materials used in building the new 198, Jordan’s engineers had to completely revise weight distribution, being able to use a fair amount of ballast due to the car’s lightness.
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| JORDAN 198, Damon Hill Montecarlo, Monaco GP 1998 |
Despite everything, the start of the championship was a nightmare for the Irish team, which, after impressing during preseason tests, struggled greatly to find performance in the first half of the season. Hill managed eighth place three times, constantly complaining of bothersome understeer and a lack of power, while Schumacher achieved no better than seventh place at Imola. The English champion also suffered the embarrassment of a disqualification at the Brazilian Grand Prix when his car was found underweight after the race, which he had finished in tenth place. The exuberant Eddie Jordan could not tolerate such a situation, leading to the dismissal of the man he deemed responsible, Gary Anderson, who was replaced by Mike Gascoyne, arriving from Tyrrell after previous stints at McLaren and Sauber. The arrival of the new engineer brought a wave of optimism and, after some suspension, front wing, floor, and diffuser modifications to the 198, performance improved significantly, also thanks to major Mugen-Honda upgrades to their V10 to boost power and delivery.
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| JORDAN 198, Damon Hill Imola, San Marino GP 1998 |
With Goodyear also working hard to counter the performance of Bridgestone-equipped cars, the Jordan team regained competitiveness in the second half of the season. From the ninth round, the British Grand Prix, Jordan scored points in every race, culminating in their first-ever Formula 1 victory with a stunning one-two finish in Belgium at Spa-Francorchamps, with Hill first and Schumacher second. The German also stepped onto the podium in the next race at Monza, while Hill narrowly missed the podium three times, finishing fourth in Germany, Hungary, and Japan. At the end of the season, Eddie Jordan's team collected 34 points, one more than the previous year, confirming themselves as the fourth-strongest team in the championship and ready to aim even higher in '99.
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