Between the years of 2000 and 2004, the car manufacturer Jaguar competed in the FIA Formula 1 Championship. Jaguar Racing, as it was come to be known, was the formation of the purchase of Stewart Grand Prix Formula One by Ford in the summer of 1999.
Ford would come to rename their team Jaguar Racing as a means of reviving the Jaguar premium automobile company. During the years that it was owned by Ford, however, Jaguar F1 racing was unable to attain the prominence it had achieved in the year 1999.
In the year 2000, the Jaguar F1 team was managed by Ford Premier Automotive Group head Wolfgang Reitzle. Ford brought a ton of funding and publicity to the team, both of which were obvious from early on. They began by hiring 1999 world champ runner up Eddie Irvine as a partner for former Stewart driver Johnny Herbert. The results did not match the success that Stewart had achieved in the year 1999, however. Reitzle then stepped down from the post, at which point he was replaced by Bobby Rahal, the American Racing champion.
The year 2001 was not much of a success either, unfortunately. At this point, Niki Lauda was brought in in the middle of the season, but this did little to revive the team’s morale.
