Formula One legend Eddie Jordan dies aged 76 following cancer battle

20 March 2025, 08:47 | Updated: 20 March 2025, 12:10

Formula One legend Eddie Jordan has died aged 76 after a battle with cancer.

The 76-year-old passed away in the early hours of Thursday, his family announced.

He had been diagnosed with an "aggressive" form of prostate and bladder cancer, which went on to spread to his spine and pelvis.

Jordan ran his own team in F1 - which he named after himself - and entered 250 races between 1991 and 2005.

They won four times, with Damon Hill leading home Jordan's best-ever result - a one-two finish at the 1998 Belgian Grand Prix.

The Irishman, known to the those in the sport as EJ, also handed Schumacher his first ever drive at the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix.

Schumacher went on to win a record-breaking seven world championships - an accomplishment only matched by Lewis Hamilton in 2020.

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A statement said: "It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of Eddie Jordan OBE the ex-Formula 1 team owner, TV pundit and entrepreneur. 

"He passed away peacefully with family by his side in Cape Town in the early hours of 20th March 2025 at the age of 76, after battling with an aggressive form of prostate cancer for the past 12 months. 

"He was working until the last, having communicated on St Patrick’s Day, about his ambitions for London Irish Rugby Football Club, of which he had recently become Patron."

It continued: "EJ brought an abundance of charisma, energy and Irish charm everywhere he went. We all have a huge hole missing without his presence. 

"He will be missed by so many people, but he leaves us with tonnes of great memories to keep us smiling through our sorrow."

He is survived by his wife Marie and children: Zoe, Miki, Zak and Kyle.

Jordan had provided a heartbreaking health update just last month, saying: "I've just come out of getting chemotherapy and I'm not 100 per cent together here guys. 

"I'm just not myself at this moment in time. I'm a little all over the place, so please forgive me."

He first revealed that he had been diagnosed with bladder and prostate cancer last year.

"This is a little message, and everybody listening to this: Don't waste or put it off," he said on his Formula For Success podcast.

"Go and get tested, because in life, you've got chances.

"And there is so much medical advice out there and so many things that you can do to extend your lifetime. 

"Go and do it. Don't be stupid. Don't be shy. It's not a shy thing. Look after your body, guys."

Jordan was born in Dublin on March 30, 1948 to parents' Eileen and Paddy.

After briefly considering becoming a priest and resisting family pressure to enter dentistry, Jordan took up a six-week accountancy course at the College of Commerce in Dublin where he began work for the Bank of Ireland.

But in 1971, his attention turned to motor racing, and Jordan won the Irish Kart Championship before moving up to Formula Ford and then Formula Three.

After he failed to realise his dream as a driver, he set up Eddie Jordan Racing in 1979 - entering teams in British F3 - where he hired Martin Brundle and Johnny Herbert - and later Formula 3000.

F1 was on Jordan's radar and in 1991 he founded Jordan Grand Prix with his team soon earning a reputation for punching above his weight. He then made the signing of his life to lure a relative unknown in Schumacher to drive for him in Spa-Francorchamps.

Jordan's regular driver, Bertrand Gachot, was sidelined after he assaulted a London taxi driver.

The paddock was stunned by Schumacher's remarkable debut where he qualified seventh, beating his established team-mate Andrea de Cesaris. A star was born.

But Schumacher's time at Jordan lasted just one event with Flavio Briatore controversially moving to sign the German for Benetton at the next round in Monza. Schumacher would win two titles at Benetton and a further five championships for Ferrari.

However, undeterred by his star loss, Jordan became a force to be recognised in F1 without ever winning the top prize.

Hill, a landmark signing for Jordan having arrived just two years after winning the world championship, led home Michael Schumacher's brother Ralf, in a superb one-two finish for the team at a rain-hit Spa-Francorchamps race - one Michael ironically was leading comfortably before he crashed into the back of David Coulthard.

It marked the highlight of Jordan's career before his team eventually ran out of cash, selling up to Midland in 2005.

Jordan returned to the paddock four years later as part of BBC's return to the sport in 2009. He would also go on to work as a pundit for Channel 4 and briefly as a presenter of Top Gear.

He also combined his love of music with motor racing, playing the drums in his band, Eddie and the Robbers, at numerous British Grands Prix.

In what would prove to be one of his final acts, Jordan, in his role as Adrian Newey's manager, helped seal the design guru's staggering £20million-a-season deal from Red Bull to Aston Martin last year, making him one of the best-paid figures in British sport.

Jordan also led a consortium that bought London Irish earlier this year.

Tributes have since poured in for the legend, with F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali: "We are deeply saddened to hear about the sudden loss of Eddie Jordan.

"With his inexhaustible energy he always knew how to make people smile, remaining genuine and brilliant at all times.

"Eddie has been a protagonist of an era of F1 and he will be deeply missed.

"In this moment of sorrow, my thoughts and those of the entire Formula 1 family are with his family and loved ones."

Jake Humphrey said: "Utterly devastated. EJ has left us. Formula One won’t see the likes of Eddie ever again where a guy with a love for racing can hustle his way into the sport and end up winning races.

"More important than race wins though, he won hearts. I will never forget how his face would always light up whenever he saw a Jordan GP jacket, flag or cap… as we travelled the world together years after the team had been sold.

"His greatest achievements were Mikki, Zoe, Kyle and Zak. His incredible 4 kids who share his spirit. His wife Marie is one of the strongest, most wonderful women I have ever met.

"The 4 years we spent together hosting F1 on the BBC were greatest of my career. Wing-walking, scooter riding, car driving madness that I know he loved deeply.

"His incredible spirit and love of life lives on in me, and my children who were lucky enough to meet him and hear all about him.

"Eddie lit up a room whenever he entered it. That is a lesson for us all - be the light in the room.

"I was lucky enough to share one final, cherished meal with him and his boys a few months ago. It was special. We talked about me doing one final interview with him. Sadly that will never happen.

"As I left his final words were 'I love you brother'. One of the 3 Amigos is gone. The world seems a little less bright this morning. Farewell friend. Play the spoons up there for me."

Rory Reid described his former co-star as a "legend" while Chris Harris said the former Formula One team owner was a "pure force of nature".

Also paying tribute was presenter Chris Evans, who said: "Clearly he was encouraging us all to get checked, because we do know that various forms of cancer, the majority of forms of cancer, are now eminently curable if you catch them early enough - prostate cancer being one of them."