Eddie Jordan says giving 51-point driver his F1 debut was ‘one of the highlights’ of his life

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Competing in Formula 1 is the pinnacle of nearly every racing driver’s career and generally needs a huge amount of luck and talent.

Team principals have some very difficult decisions to make when it comes to their line-ups and are sometimes forced into some really tough choices.

Reports on Thursday even suggest that one current team on the grid are tempted to make a driver swap during this year’s summer break.

Former Jordan team principal Eddie Jordan has been talking on the Formula For Success Podcast about his time in the paddock.

Jordan not only regularly outperformed their budget and expectations on the grid but also gave some of the most talented drivers in F1’s history their first break.

The likes of Rubens Barrichello, Ralf Schumacher and his brother Michael can all trace the start of their Formula 1 careers back to the dream.

However, Jordan has now said that handing German driver Timo Glock his F1 debut back in 2004 was one of the highlights of his career.

Glock is one of the last German drivers to grace the F1 grid and still works in the sport as a presenter for German television.

READ MORE: Timo Glock names one track that would love to return to the Formula 1 calendar

Eddie Jordan speaks with pride about Timo Glock’s Formula 1 debut

Timo Glock was one of the most talented young drivers of his generation.

After winning Formula BMW ADAC, he finished 3^rd in German F3 in 2002, losing out to Gary Paffett and Kosuke Matsuura, but finishing ahead of future F1 drivers Vitantonio Liuzzi and Robert Doornbos.

Glock then finished 3^rd in the Formula 3 Euro Series and that was enough to convince Eddie Jordan to sign him as the team’s test driver in F1 the following year.

The 2004 season wasn’t easy for Jordan after they finished second-bottom of the Constructors’ Championship the year before.

They started the season with Nick Heidfeld and Giorgio Pantano in the car, although at the Canadian Grand Prix, Glock stepped in to replace the Italian due to financial issues, via RTE.

Jordan has now spoken about how proud he was for Glock to make his debut that weekend and could scarcely believe how well he fared.

It was only a one-race deal but Glock didn’t have to wait long for his next chance to race in F1.

READ MORE: Timo Glock shares what Lewis Hamilton said to him after dramatic 2008 title victory

Timo Glock scores points on his F1 debut in Canada

After speaking to Glock on his podcast, Jordan said: “Timo Glock, it was a rollercoaster that day.

“It’s one of the highlights of my life looking back at Montreal at how it unfolded, how you got stuck in the car, you were in the car sorry not stuck in it!

“You raced it and then scoring points, it was one of those things that if you write a book or you had a look at a video, you would say, ‘No, that’s not real, that couldn’t happen’ and it did happen and I remember the two of us jumping around hugging each other, it was just hilarious.

“All that week, it was just amazing. We did have a party but don’t talk about Jordan and parties because that’s the only reason we went racing was to have parties and rock and roll!”

Glock scored the first two of his 51 career F1 points in Canada after four drivers ahead of him were disqualified.

He took over from Pantano for the final three races of the season but there was no space for him on the grid the following year with Jordan opting for Tiago Monteiro and Narain Karthikeyan.

In fact, Glock didn’t return to F1 until 2008 after winning GP2 the previous year and spent two seasons with Toyota, securing three podiums in the process.

His Formula 1 career finished with three seasons at the Virgin / Marussia teams but Glock can be proud of how he drove throughout his time in the sport.