The humble video that secured an unforgettable underdog F1 win

In 2003 there were no livestreams of Formula 1 races, no instant replays, no apps with live timing data – and most definitely no Twitter to provide a platform for noisy post-race post-mortems. This is the previously untold inside story, uncovered by MAURICE HAMILTON, of how a humble VHS video tape enabled the Jordan team to claim a momentous win – five days after the flag…

Twenty years ago this month, the FIA didn’t realise it had cocked up the finishing order of the Brazilian Grand Prix. It took the persistent detective work of the IT team at Jordan Grand Prix to prove Giancarlo Fisichella had won at Interlagos and oblige McLaren and Kimi Raikkonen to hand back the Brazilian trophy
 at Imola two weeks later.

Eddie Jordan would have celebrated a point for eighth place, never mind the 10 that eventually came his way. The 2003 season was all about survival for Jordan, a mission seemingly made even more difficult just before the start in Brazil when rain added to the track’s inherent hazards. The Jordan technical crew, led by Gary Anderson, saw it differently.