The new livery is one of the most notable features of the latest Jordan car and has been designed for the team by Peter Boutwood, a close friend of Jordan's former driver and former world champion Damon Hill.
"We are pleased with the livery and hope everyone likes it," said a happy Boutwood.

The EJ11, created by a Jordan team which now boasts 247 members of staff compared to the total of only 24 which built and ran the original car in 1991, is the first to carry the Honda RA001E engine, heralding the start of a long-term relationship between the world's largest engine manufacturer and the Silverstone-based team.

At the launch, Jordan team owner Eddie Jordan was joined by Takefumi Hosaka, Managing Director of Honda R&D and Honda's F1 Project Leader. Also present were 2001 Jordan Honda race drivers, Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Jarno Trulli, together with official test driver Ricardo Zonta.

"Our target for the 2001 is to have one Honda-powered team in the top three of the Constructors' Championship. We also want to achieve a Honda-powered driver on the top step of the podium and with the support of our partners, I am sure we should be able to achieve this."

Eddie Jordan
Welcoming Honda to his team's headquarters, Eddie Jordan underlined the importance of the new association with the engine manufacturer. "This is the realisation of a dream, representing a total commitment to winning the World Championship," confirmed Jordan. "Honda has an unrivalled success story in Formula 1 and we have been given the awesome responsibility of adding to the record."

Honda's latest Formula 1 engine is an evolution of last year's powerful, reliable unit that powered BAR Honda to fifth place in the 2000 Constructors' Championship, but many new elements have been incorporated in preparation for 2001.

No more Bitten & Hisses or Buzzin Hornets.

Kazutoshi Nishizawa
"The new engine may look the same from the outside, but we have improved the unit in almost every area," said Kazutoshi Nishizawa, Technical Director of Honda Racing Development. "We have investigated and addressed the issues from last season and the result is a superior unit. There will be a continuous programme of development throughout the year and we expect to make further significant improvements during the season."

The EJ11 features a significantly altered design for the airbox and sidepod areas as well as a new front wing section and a seven speed gearbox.

Tim Holloway
Chief engineer, Tim Holloway commented "We've designed the car to extract maximum performance given this year's new regulations and our desire to optimise the performance of Honda's new evolution engine. After a tough 2000, we have pushed for maximum performance whilst bolstering the car's strength and design integrity to ensure the best possible reliability."

The new car has a raised nose and carries an all-new Honda lightweight V10 engine which is smaller, more powerful and carries itself with a lower centre of gravity than its predecessor used last season by the BAR team.

It looks particularly different in the areas around the front and rear wings following the FIA's creation of new regulations governing aerodynamic design.

The team increased its aerodynamic work by 25 per cent work since August when it abandoned attempts to develop and improve last year's car, concentrating on their challenger for 2001 instead.

Front and rear suspension is in line with familiar F1 design philosophy, featuring pushrod-operated Penske dampers, while the car is equipped with Brembo brake calipers and a mix of Brembo and Hitco discs. Jordan has also opted to retain its tyre contract with Bridgestone for the new season, rather than sign up with the new arrivals, Michelin.

There has also been a complete redesign of chassis and gearbox – a seven-speeder replacing last year's six-speed unit – with the design emphasis slanted towards ensuring that the quest for performance does not compromise mechanical reliability.

"My role is very much to manage people in their roles," says Holloway. "What matters most is teamwork, and it is my responsibility to ensure the right dynamics between the 53 people in the engineering department."
He added, "Honda have the potential to have the No. 1 engine in F1, but we have to remember that our relationship with them is in its infancy. There is a lot of promise for the future. My ambition is to be with the team that wins races, and that's what all of us in the design team are working for."

Heinz Harald Frentzen
Heinz Harald Frentzen expressed his optimism for the season ahead. "I strongly believe Jordan is the team of the future," the German said. "Our goal is to continue where we finished off in 1999. When we get the car reliable, there’s no reason to think we can’t be successful again. Hopefully we’ve improved the car in all areas, the engine, the mechanicals and in the wind-tunnel. We have spent more time making the car fast and hopefully all the things will fit together right from the beginning so that we can attack."
"With Honda we will grow immensely and I think we can drive for victories again".

Jarno Trulli
Jarno Trulli will certainly be looking for more from Jordan Honda this season as a drive with Benetton Renault is a possibility next year if things do not go well. "We are hoping for a better year this year," said Trulli.

"We all hope that we can win," he said. "We are very confident as we worked well in winter and solved many problems in terms of reliability. I am looking forward to this season and doing well and achieving the results we did not (achieve) last year. But I don't have any targets as that proved dangerous to have in the past."
Trulli, who twice qualified on the front row of the grid last year, added: "I hope we can reach the front row several times this year - perhaps more often than that.
"We will be trying to come as close as possible to McLaren and Ferrari but we know that is going to be hard."

Jarno has lost his race engineer from 2000, but has a familiar face as a replacement. "I know him (Gabrielle Delli-Colli) from Minardi," he commented, "but we were both very young then. We have learnt quite a lot since and now we are back together again. I have already told him not to speak Italian thought, as this is an English-speaking team, and I want to do my utmost right from the start."

The EJ11 at Silverstone on Monday.

Ricardo Zonta
Ricardo Zonta spoke at the launch about the role he sees himself playing, as the team's test driver. "I have had two difficult seasons with BAR," he said, explaining his decision on stage at the launch, "and I think my best opportunity was to go back to Jordan. I think that I can use my strengths here to help improve the car.
"We have many tests still to do," he continued, "and I have some experience with Honda from my days at BAR so I know I can help."

When asked why so many teams were now choosing experienced, rather than up-and -coming, drivers to test their cars he replied, "Big teams want experienced drivers as test driver to improve things. I hope that I can make the car faster and reliable for Jordan."

Eddie Jordan
Eddie explained why they had given up on the big, glitzy launches "When we were doing those launches by the time the car came back we had lost four days,"
"We felt it was particularly important we maximised the time the car was with us this season. That's even more important because the start of the season has been brought forward.

"It meant that we could test yesterday and last Saturday and that we will be able to test again tomorrow." Jordan added. "It was very disappointing for us last season. 2000 started so well but then we had reliability problems.
"We now think that we have got that. We have solved many of the problems that plagued us last year, like reliability and that is something that I am not going to let cause us problems again.
"But with Ferrari and McLaren you do not get two bites of the cherry and while we were trying to sort out the problems other teams kept pushing and we suffered."

Eddie is confident for 2001, "We have restructured the management, added nearly 50 people to the workforce and witnessed the team gel together into the most committed and dedicated team that Jordan has ever fielded. In facing the challenge of the years ahead, we have had to grow the company in every direction. It hasn't been an easy task, but I have never felt so confident. We are a totally focussed unit looking forward to the tough but exciting times ahead.

"If we blow it this time, you can blame us because we will never have had a better opportunity.
"The bravado of Jordan has always been there and I am more encouraged than ever before and I am hungry for the season to start."

Jordan also confirmed that this year his team will boast its strongest ever sponsorship backing from a list of big name companies spearheaded by Benson and Hedges and Deutsche Post, together with the two new sponsors, DHL, Danzas, Infineon and Puma sportswear. "I do not believe there is a better two-car driver line-up currently in the field of Formula One," Eddie concluded, speaking of Italian Jarno Trulli and German Heinz-Harald Frentzen.

The team will now take part in several intensive test sessions to gain as much information as is possible about the new chassis and engine before the start of the new season on 4th March.