1998

It was all change for 1998. New drivers, new teams, new colours and new rules all promised one of the most unpredictable and exciting seasons for a long time.
New regulations for improved safety meant everyone was starting from scratch. Narrower cars, wider cock-pits and grooved tyres were brought in to slow the cars down whilst also strengthening them. But although the larger teams had the budget and resources to cope with the changes, no-one was quite sure what the state of the field would be.

Jordan had been off the pace of McLaren by several seconds over winter testing, and the trend continued at the Australian Grand Prix. As Mika Hakkinen came within an incredible six-tenths of the previous year's pole time but in a slower 1998 car, Damon was two seconds adrift in 10th place, just 7 thousandths of a second behind Ralf Schumacher who was starting his second year with the Silverstone-based team.
It was a similar story during the race, with only Michael Schumacher able to keep anywhere near the pace of the McLarens until he retired with an engine failure. The Williams surprisingly struggled, and Damon was the first to pit as he was being held up by Heinz-Harald Frentzen.
A solid performance from Damon, praised highly by team boss Eddie Jordan, saw him finish 8th as Hakkinen took his second victory in F1 in as many races. Although the weekend was nothing to write home about, the Jordan had proved to be strong and reliable, and this was something to build on for the future.

After incredibly successful testing in Barcelona, the Brazilian Grand Prix was a complete disaster for Damon. His car wasn't riding the bumpy, anti-clockwise circuit at all well, and after only qualifying 11th, Damon had a bad start and could only finish 10th, two laps down. To rub salt into the wounds, he was later disqualified after his car failed post-race scrutineering for being underweight.

More promising testing for the Jordan team saw the addition of side-pod mounted winglets for the Argentinian Grand Prix as well as the wider front Goodyear tyres, and while Ralf managed 5th in qualifying, Damon had to settle for 9th after spinning on the last corner of his final run.
Their places were reversed somewhat at the start when Damon made a better get-away, although Ralf would later retire with a rear wishbone failure. His brother Michael meanwhile was one of many drivers to clash wheels overtaking on the tight circuit, Damon being another one when he tried to pass Johnny Herbert. And so it was that Mika Hakkinen's winning streak was broken as Schumacher took the flag for his 28th win, with Damon coming home in 8th, still unhappy with the car.

A whole raft of new components for the San Marino Grand Prix saw Damon with a car that he finally liked the balance of, and it showed. Having been bumped down from 5th to 7th by Irvine and Villeneuve in qualifying, Damon was on his final run and going faster still when he suffered an engine failure, his first of the season.
Ironically it was another engine failure that caused his retirement a few laps from the end of the race. Unable to avoid Wurz's slowing Benetton which was stuck in gear at the start, Damon was forced to pit for a new nose-cone, and then proceeded to dramatically slice his way through the field, making his way up to 7th - and ahead of team-mate Schumacher, who had been off form all weekend - before his eventual retirement, although he was classified 10th, David Coulthard taking the win.
Without the earlier collision Damon would have been set for a points finish, but he and the team saw the positive side: they had been running consistently close to the front throughout the three days, a marked change from the previous three races.

Spain was another disappointment for Damon and the Jordan team. Damon qualified 8th, fractions behind Herbert, but was overtaken at the start by Barrichello and Villeneuve. He did better than team-mate Schumacher though, who only qualified 11th and then had an appalling start, dropping back to second-from-last place. Damon meanwhile had been having altercations with Frentzen all weekend, who to top it all off pushed Damon off the track after the German exited from a pit-stop, already a lap down. Another engine failure finished Damon's race two laps later, the predictable podium being Hakkinen, Coulthard and Michael Schumacher.

Monaco was without a doubt the low point of the season for the Jordan team. The car's weaknesses really showed with neither driver managing to get enough grip to attack the track. Damon qualified 15th, Ralf 16th. Damon struggled again in the race, another gritty performance seeing him finish 8th as Hakkinen took his fourth win of the season.

Technical Director Gary Anderson stayed back at the factory for the Canadian Grand Prix in an attempt to get to the bottom of the car's poor performance. New rear tyres from Goodyear and a slightly more powerful engine from Mugen-Honda helped on the fast circuit, Damon qualifying 10th and Ralf in 5th, the German finding a better set-up.
Damon kept his cool after an aborted first start and then several yellow flag and pace car incidents, emerging from the chaos in 6th place. No mistakes and a strong drive saw the Englishman up to 3rd as others ahead spun off or retired with mechanical problems, and he was briefly promoted to 2nd after Schumacher came in the pits to serve a 10 second stop-and-go penalty.
The German re-took the place in a battle reminiscent of Spa in 1995, but as Damon looked set to take the final podium position, he was cruelly robbed by an electrical failure. Michael took the win, a searing set of fastest laps putting him ahead of Fisichella at the final pit-stops.

A loss of power from the engine ruined Damon's final run in qualifying for the French Grand Prix, although he still managed to match his best grid position of 7th for the season. With Ralf in 6th Jordan looked strong for a points finish, but it wasn't to be. Damon retired before lap 20 with a hydraulic failure, and his team-mate lost considerable time in the pits having a damaged front steering arm repaired.
Michael Schumacher took an easy win, but the drive of the race came from Eddie Irvine who held off pressure from Mika Hakkinen to equal his best race finish ever, netting Ferrari their first 1-2 since 1990 when Mansell backed up Prost.

Britain was where Damon had scored his first point of 1997, and he was hoping to do the same this year. Gary Anderson's hard work over the past two races had produced a better handling car thanks to shorter sidepods, new barge-boards and a changed underfloor. More tweaks from Goodyear and Honda, and the appointment of Mike Gascoyne from Tyrrell also helped.
Seventh place behind McLaren, Ferrari and the improved Williams was a creditable performance for Damon, but sadly he was the first to spin out in appalling conditions come the race. Team-mate Ralf however drove the best race of his career, storming from the back of the field to sixth to score Jordan's first point of the year. Brother Michael also excelled, taking a controversial victory under appeal to net his 31st win, equalling Mansell's tally.

Damon was one of the first out of the pits for the qualifying in Austria, reconfirming his skill in the wet. Although the gamble looked promising, it failed to pay off as the team mistakenly sent him out too early for his final run, and then brought him in with a lap still left, leaving him 15th. Fisichella by contrast timed it just right, taking his first career pole.
An excellent start from Damon and careful driving to avoid the carnage saw him emerge 9th after the first lap. An early first stop brought him out in traffic, and he ultimately finished 7th, just outside the top six. Ralf meanwhile finished in the points for the second race running, Mika Hakkinen taking the win.

A more powerful engine and tweaked aerodynamics for the German Grand Prix, combined with Damon's smoothness in the "Stadium" section saw the Brit line up 5th, although he had been as high as 3rd.
Ralf had qualified one place ahead and went for a two-stop strategy which ultimately didn't pay off, the German finishing 6th. Damon meanwhile drove a strong race to net his first points of the season as he finished a competitive 4th, Hakkinen heading another McLaren 1-2.

The Jordan car had suffered badly at low down-force circuits in the past, but this wasn't the case in Hungary thanks to heavy development work, Damon's much praised testing ability, and his smoothness around the Hungaroring. 4th place behind the McLarens and Michael Schumacher was the impressive outcome.
Damon was on the dirty side for the start but still managed a good getaway, unfortunately getting boxed in by Michael. Yet again Damon was unlucky with traffic after emerging from his first stop, and for the remainder of the race he battled with Jacques Villeneuve, the Canadian eventually pulling away in the later stages, thanks partly to running the harder Goodyear tyres. Although Damon joked that this had been his "worst finish ever" at the track, 4th place was a commendable result. Michael took another dominant win.

Damon had been within reach of the McLarens all weekend, and indeed outpaced Michael Schumacher to 3rd place in qualifying for the Belgium Grand Prix. A bad start dropped him back, but this turned out to be in his favour as he managed to avoid a multiple car pile up which involved well over half the grid.
Damon's second start was perfect, and he led Mika Hakkinen into the first corner. The Finn unfortunately was spun into the path of Johnny Herbert and out of the race by Schumacher, who then began to close down on Damon, the latter struggling with a car set up for a drying track. Michael passed him on lap 8 and began to pull away. They both changed from intermediates to full wets on their first stops, Damon also having some extra front wing put on to try and improve the handling.
Driving an incredibly mature race in the treacherous conditions, Damon looked set for a strong second. This all changed however when Michael ran into the back of Coulthard while trying to lap him. Damon led again with Ralf now behind. The safety car returned to the track for Fisichella's rear-end crash, and Damon took advantage of this to pit, maintaining his position as he did so. Damon brought the two Jordans home for his 22nd career victory, Alesi pushing them to the end. It was Damon's first win in nearly two years and Jordan's first ever, made doubly sweet by their taking second place as well.

Further improvements to the car were made for the Italian Grand Prix, but sadly Damon wasn't able to make the most of them as traffic held him up in the latter stages of qualifying, leaving him in 14th place. Ralf in contrast managed to claim 6th on the ever-drying track.
With most of the grid opting for a single stop Damon gambled on making two, reasoning that with a lighter car he would be able to move up the field quicker. This he did, in impressive style, and was up to 5th before his first stop having just put a superb move on Villeneuve. His middle stint wasn't as successful, but was still good enough to see him take 6th at the chequered flag. Ralf secured further points for Jordan when he completed a historic podium with his brother and Eddie Irvine.

After the recent run of fortune for Damon and the team, the Luxembourg Grand Prix proved something of a disappointment. Suffering from a heavy cold all weekend and not being able to set his car up to his liking, Damon could only qualify 10th, Ralf again taking 6th place. Damon gave it his all in the race, but in the end finished 9th, the one place improvement ironically occurring when Ralf retired from 5th with a brake failure. With Mika winning and Michael coming second, the Championship was going down to the wire for the third year running.

Third place in the Constructors Championship was also up for grabs in Japan, with Williams, Benetton and Jordan all in with a shout. A lack of mechanical grip meant that the yellow cars struggled, but they were only fractions behind Williams, with Ralf and Damon in 7th and 8th.
After two aborted starts - Michael Schumacher causing the second - the race got underway. Damon passed Ralf at the start, and was then on the tail of Villeneuve. While the two of them battled, Michael caught up, and all three World Champions raced nose-to-tail until Damon made his first stop. There he got ahead of Jacques, and ran behind Frentzen for the remainder of the race. In a bold move Damon passed his future team-mate into the last chicane on the final lap, taking fourth place. Ralf had retired earlier, as had brother Michael, dashing his Championship hopes. Hakkinen took the title in a dominant style, similar in many ways to Damon's in 1996.

Damon's 1999 season had been more mixed. Jordan failed to score a single point in the first half of the year, but major developments to the car gave Ralf and Damon machinery they could exploit. A win, 34 points and 4th place in the Constructors Championship was the highest the team had achieved, and they finished just 4 shy of Williams. Spa had been the highlight of the season for Damon, during which he took a total of 20 points, and 6th place in the Drivers Championship, just 1 point behind Villeneuve. Damon had proved again that he was still competitive, and had high hopes for the following year.