(in full, '''Midland F1 Racing''') is a
Formula One Constructor . The team is owned by the
Midland Group , whose director
Alex Shnaider purchased it from
Jordan Grand Prix in 2005. It is competing in the
2006 Formula One Season with drivers
Christijan Albers and
Tiago Monteiro .
Midland Group's interest in Formula One involvement began in 2004 when they confirmed their plans to have a team to race in place for the 2006 season.
Grandprix.com article dated October 8, 2004 Although they were initially linked with creating a new unit or purchasing
Jaguar , the group instead signed a deal to buy the
Jordan team from
Eddie Jordan prior to the
2005 Formula One Season . As a result, the team would be a legal continuation of Jordan and not a new entity subject to Formula One's $48 million entry bond. It also allowed Midland to claim the television revenue generated by Jordan's placing in the constructors' championship (in which Jordan subsequently placed ninth).
The team retained Jordan's name for the 2005 season but struggled at the back of the grid with drivers
Narain Karthikeyan and
Tiago Monteiro . The highlights of the season were Monteiro's third-place finish at the
US Grand Prix (in which most of the grid refused to race) and his lengthy streak of consecutive finishes underpinning the car's reliability.
Some media reports at this time began to speculate that Midland were unhappy with their purchase and looking to offload
Jordan even before the team entered under its own name in 2006. Team principal
Trevor Carlin quit the team after seven races, and chief engineer and designer Mark Smith before the end of the season. There were consistent reports that the team was linked with a buy-out by former
Formula One driver
Eddie Irvine .
BBC.co.uk article dated May 21, 2005
The name of the team was changed to MF1 Racing for the 2006 Formula One season. In the UK a joke has emerged regarding this shortform being written in the same way as economy furniture manufacturer had originally been contracted to develop the M16, however the agreement was discontinued during the design process after a disappointing contribution from the Italian manufacturer. The senior management subsequently placed its faith in the incumbent design team, promoting former head of vehicle science James Key to the role of technical director towards the end of the 2005 season.
Shnaider had been insistent that Midland intended to field Formula One's first Russian driver - although Russian drivers have tested in the past, mainly for the .
BBC.co.uk article dated October 20, 2005
The team's third driver on race weekends will be ,
A1 Grand Prix drivers
Adrian Sutil and
Roman Rusinov , and ex-
Champ Car driver
Fabrizio Del Monte have also joined the team as test drivers for 2006.
Based on the early part of the season, the team is generally ahead of the new
Super Aguri team, but is struggling to be competitive with the other teams, and has had some reliability issues, with both cars encountering problems before a lap had been completed in Bahrain.
