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The re-named Stewart-Ford team launched into 2000 on a high, and bearing the first British Racing Green livery to be seen in F1 since the Martini Lotus of the early eighties. Johnny Herbert continued with the team after scoring an emotional win for Stewart in the European GP, and Eddie Irvine joined after missing out on the championship with Ferrari.
Team founder Jackie Stewart had long been involved in motor racing team management via his son Paul's Formula Vauxhall and F3 racing outfits. Young Dane Jan Magnussen helped establish the Paul Stewart team as the one to beat when he took 14 victories from 18 starts to win the championship in 1994. Deciding to make the jump into Formula 1, the team quickly abandoned its F3000 team which had run Gil de Ferran and David Coulthard in the past.
Helped by extensive backing from Ford, Stewart vigorously pursued new and innovative methods of financing the team throughout the early part of 1996, gaining sponsorship from international bank HSBC and the Malaysian government. Arrows designer Alan Jenkins was brought on board to lead the design team, and Stewart was the first to unveil its 1997 challenger, with drivers Rubens Barrichello and Jan Magnussen.
The usual niggling reliability problems meant the team entered the season without the desired amount of testing, but Barrichello impressed in early season qualifying performances. Results were hard to come by, though, as technical problems continued to frustrate the team.
A dream first-season result came in Monaco, when Rubens Barrichello scored a fine second in a wet-race thriller. The reliability problems persisted however, and despite some fine runs, the team struggled to gain any further points.
The 1998 SF2 was inconsistent and difficult to drive, the technical team having had trouble adapting to the 1998 regulation changes. Points were scored in Canada and Spain, but Magnussen had failed to get to grips with Formula 1, and Stewart decided enough was enough, installing Jos Verstappen in the Dane’s place.
With Johnny Herbert on board for 1999, and an incredibly sleek and neat car, things were looking up. Barrichello put in some storming top-five qualifying positions early in the year and the team led its first race with Barrichello in Brazil. Podiums in San Marino and France, and a pole position were topped when Herbert turned around a poor start to the year by winning the team’s first race in the European GP at the Nurburgring. Ford took the plunge and bought Stewart out, renaming the team Jaguar for the 2000 season.
2000 Result - Ninth in Constructors' Championship, four points, no wins
2001 Line-up
- Eddie Irvine, Luciano Burti