With the official transfer of ownership of the Stewart Grand Prix team to the Ford Motor Company, the new Jaguar Racing Team is born. The deal was finalized on September 14, 1999, and the name Jaguar was chosen by Ford itself as part of a global marketing strategy to promote the Jaguar sports car brand, which is owned by Ford. However, no technology from Jaguar was used; instead, all the know-how developed by Ford during its recent years in Formula 1, first with Benetton and later with Stewart, was fully employed.
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| JAGUAR R1, Johnny Herbert Imola, San Marino GP 2000 |
The team remains based in Milton Keynes, a town in the southeast of England in Buckinghamshire, previously home to the Stewart team. Wolfgang Reitzle, then head of Ford’s Premier Automotive Group, is appointed as Team Manager, while Bobby Rahal, a man with extensive experience in American racing, is named CEO. The technical team working on the new Jaguar R1 remains unchanged from the previous season, with Gary Anderson and Darren Davis, both formerly of Team Jordan, continuing as Technical Director and Head of Aerodynamics. However, for the role of Lead Designer, Dave Amey and Simon Smart are replaced by Ford’s in-house engineer John Russell.
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| JAGUAR R1, Eddie Irvine Hockenheimring, German GP 2000 |
Although based on the solid foundation of the previous Stewart SF3, the new R1 features many aerodynamic changes, starting with a slightly lowered nose that closely resembles that of the 1999 McLaren MP4/14. The sidepods are tall and shaped in a way that recalls the "violin case" sidepods introduced by Barnard a decade earlier. The engine cover is much narrower than before, thanks to the new, slimmer Ford-Cosworth CR-2 V10 engine, although its power output remains the same, producing 770 hp at 16,500 rpm, still lagging behind the performance of Ferrari and Mercedes engines. The engine air intake is now triangular, and the two bargeboards in front of the rear wheels are more pronounced compared to the almost straight ones seen on the SF3. Beneath the surface, the new Jaguar R1 introduces many innovations, including a lighter chassis and new rear suspension, with the shock absorber relocated to the lower part of the gearbox to lower the center of gravity. For the same purpose, the lubrication system was also redesigned, completely new but responsible for many of the breakdowns suffered by the two R1s during the season.
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| JAGUAR R1, Johnny Herbert Melbourne, Australian GP 2000 |
On the driver front, the team signs 1999 World Championship runner-up, Northern Irishman Eddie Irvine, coming from Ferrari, and retains the experienced English driver Johnny Herbert, in his final Formula 1 season. Brazilian Luciano Burti is brought in as the third driver; during the season, specifically at the Austrian Grand Prix, he replaces the injured Irvine, thus making his F1 debut. The car proves to be largely disappointing despite flashes of competitiveness, particularly in the hands of Eddie Irvine, who regularly manages to qualify the R1 within the top ten. While the Jaguar shows decent pace over a single lap, its race pace is often slow, and above all, plagued by serious reliability issues, mostly stemming from the gearbox-clutch system.
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| JAGUAR R1, Johnny Herbert Montecarlo, Monaco GP 2000 |
The debut season of the new British team does not go as expected, and in the first two races of the Championship, both R1s are forced to retire. Only in qualifying does the car show some promise, with Irvine achieving sixth place in Brazil, while race performance improves only in Monaco, where the Northern Irishman finishes fourth, earning the team’s first points. The rest of the season is marked by many finishes outside the points, with the usual glimpses of competitiveness in qualifying, such as Irvine’s sixth time in Canada, Herbert’s eighth in Germany, and Irvine’s two seventh places in Japan and Malaysia. It is on the Sepang circuit that the car scores its final point of the season, with the Northern Irishman crossing the line in sixth, while Herbert, in his last Formula 1 race, is involved in a frightening crash caused by suspension failure. Fortunately, he emerges unscathed, with only minor injuries. The season ends with just 4 points, resulting in a disappointing 9th place in the Constructors' Championship, ahead of only Minardi and Prost.
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