IndySpeedway.com
MF1 Racing - News on start of 2006 season

    February 2006

    MF1 Racing, which just launched the Toyota-powered M16 at Silverstone, is the first
    Russian owned team in F1 history. The car features red, white and grey livery and,
    while knowledge of the previous Jordan EJ15B chassis helped the development, it is
    described as a completely new car.

         The team, formerly Jordan,  is owned and operated by Alex Shnaider’s Midland Group.

    “We have restructured the company and refurbished our headquarters as the first stage
    of our long-term plans. The M16 car is 100 percent a product of MF1 Racing, which
    is solid proof of our serious intentions. But even though we have invested a great deal
    into building a brand-new car, we remain realistic about the challenge we face as a
    private team against the world’s top motor manufacturers.”

    “It is a 100 percent Midland MF1 car,” technical director James Key said. “It was
    designed and built here at our Silverstone facility across the road. The main aim was to
    maintain the reliability but improve the aerodynamics.

    “We have not been able to design a new car for a couple of years now, so we have had
    ideas stacking up for 18 months that we really wanted to try. And now with the new
    car, we are able to do that. We have a lot of original homegrown ideas on the car.”

    Although the budget has increased since Shnaider bought the team, MF1 Racing has
    reasonable goals for the upcoming season.

    Key said. “We are aiming for the group that was just in front of us last year. This car
    was designed to be developed so it will continue to be improved.”

    MF1 Racing leases its V8 engines from Toyota. Monteiro, who drove the Toyota V10
    last year, says that the V8, which has about 20 percent less horsepower than the V10,
    gives both the driver and the team new challenges.

    “We did a test with the V8 in December, and it is a big difference,” he said. “There’s a
    difference in the driving style and chassis setup and the tires. So we are going to have
    to analyze that very carefully. We are going to have to adapt the car to the new driving
    style, and the driver is going to have to adapt himself to this very different kind of car.”

    THE DRIVERS
    Portugal’s Tiago Monteiro drove for Jordan in his rookie F1 season last year, and he is
    back for another season with the team. In 2005, he finished 18 times in 19 starts, and
    he is aiming to raise his game this year.

    Holland’s Christijan Albers, who spent his F1 rookie season with Minardi in 2005, joins
    MF1 Racing in 2006. He is looking forward to working with and racing against
    Monteiro.