Written by Peter Johnson
Former Formula One team owner Eddie Jordan has died at the age of 76. The Irish motorsport legend announced in December last year that he had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of bladder and prostate cancer.
Jordan was born in Dublin in 1948, working at the Bank of Ireland before pursuing a career in motorsport. He won the Irish Kart Championship in 1971 and climbed through the junior categories.
At the end of the 1970s he switched his focus to motorsport management, founding Eddie Jordan Racing. The team would eventually appear on the Formula One grid as Jordan Grand Prix in 1991, a season which saw Michael Schumacher make his Formula One debut in one of Jordan’s cars.
Other iconic names such as World Champion Damon Hill, and others including Martin Brundle, Rubens Barrichello and Ralf Schumacher, also competed for the team.
Hill and Ralf Schumacher helped to deliver the team’s best ever race result, a 1-2 finish at the 1998 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps. The following year, Heinz-Harald Frentzen finished third in the Drivers’ Championship at the wheel of a Jordan, winning two races in 1999.
Jordan sold the team at the end of 2005 and his name disappeared from the grid and he came to be found much more regularly on television screens as a Formula One pundit for BBC Sport and later Channel 4.
More recently, Jordan worked as the manager of engineering guru Adrian Newey, helping to facilitate the latter’s high-profile move to Aston Martin.
Away from the race track, Jordan held a portfolio of several businesses and was a keen musician.
A statement from Jordan's family said: "It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of Eddie Jordan OBE the ex-Formula 1 team owner, TV pundit and entrepreneur.
"He passed away peacefully with family by his side in Cape Town in the early hours of 20th March 2025 at the age of 76, after battling with an aggressive form of prostate cancer for the past 12 months.
"He was working until the last, having communicated on St Patrick’s Day, about his ambitions for London Irish Rugby Football Club, of which he had recently become Patron.
“EJ brought an abundance of charisma, energy and Irish charm everywhere he went. We all have a huge hole missing without his presence. He will be missed by so many people, but he leaves us with tonnes of great memories to keep us smiling through our sorrow.”
CEO and President of Formula One, Stefano Domenicali, said: ““We are deeply saddened to hear about the sudden loss of Eddie Jordan.
“With his inexhaustible energy he always knew how to make people smile, remaining genuine and brilliant at all times.
“Eddie has been a protagonist of an era of F1 and he will be deeply missed.
“In this moment of sorrow, my thoughts and those of the entire Formula 1 family are with his family and loved ones.”
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