MIDLAND F1
updated: 25th Sep 2008
14:11:33
Team created by a Russian-Canadian magnate who wanted bigger cars to play with
Midland drivers Albers and Monteiro squabble over some tarmac, Montreal 2006.
The short-lived second manifestation of the Jordan F1 team, Midland existed for just the 2006 season, before being sold to Spyker towards the end of the year.
Alex Shnaider, one of those Canadian-Russian entrepreneurs we're always hearing so much about, had fancied dabbling in top-line motorsport for a while, first threatening to start his own F1 team and then to buy Jaguar from Ford, before finally snapping up Jordan out of petty cash.
The deal was agreed before the start of the 2005 season, although the team continued to race as Jordan until 2006 for administrative reasons too dull to warrant mention here, but rumours of a change of heart on Shnaider's part seemed to begin before the ink on the contract was dry. The expensive toy he'd bought himself had quickly lost its lustre.
As the season wore on, the team's performance did improve and it may have been this that persuaded Spyker to take little Alex's plaything off his hands. The deal was concluded in September 2006 and Shnaider slunk quietly away, with burnt fingers and a bank balance that lent further weight to the theory that the best way to make a small fortune in Formula One is to start with a large one.
