May 2009, and the Formula 1 Tour arrives in Spain for the first European Grand Prix of the season. Former team owner Eddie Jordan makes waves by suggesting that Kimi Raikkonen should be suspended – so is he right ..?
In the UK, the coverage of F1 has gone back to the BBC after a gap of 12 years, and one of the pundits they bought in is Eddie Jordan, a former team owner, who added a big dash of flamboyance and outspoken views when he was racing, and carries on doing the same with a microphone!
The BBC had just shown a feature on Raikkonen in their race build up. Raikkonen is known for being laid back off the track to the point of appearing dismissive, and in the feature he seemed to suggest he was not bothered if he was driving or not, and implied that his team Ferrari had no chance of winning the championship.
The main host then asked Jordan what he thought, and he said that not only did he think Raikkonen would not be driving next season, he said he should not be driving this season. He went on to say that the Ferrari team should suspend him immediately, as the team was too big and rich in F1 drivers talking like that!
That's very direct opinion, so much so that fellow pundit, recently retired David Coulthard said he was amazed. Jordan was unrepantant.
It could have argued both ways – yes, it's nice to see someone come out and say that a team that pays Raikkonen millions of pounds a year should have been shown respect, but it could also be argued that Raikkonen was simply being honest in a time when the sporting viewing public is crying out for honesty in interviews.
I can definitely see both sides of the argument, and no doubt there will be a backlash at Jordan's comments, in a sport which is obsessed with quotes.