“What was fantastic about it was we’d just had that big accident in Canada due to a brake failure… Heinz went to hospital, he had some internal bruising and a crack in his spine, and the words the doctor used in Montreal were, ‘You’ve broken the bones in your back’. When you had an accident like that, you had to get signed off by Sid Watkins. In France, I remember going with Heinz up to Sid, on the Thursday before practice, and we were nervous about getting signed off. We went into the room, and of course we had briefed Heinz beforehand, Sid looked up and said, ‘What are you guys doing here?’. We said, ‘We’ve come to get signed off’. He said, ‘Yeah, you’re signed off, it’s all done’.
“What’s the saying? When you’ve sold the car, stop talking. I remember thinking, ‘Let’s get out of this room’. Heinz got annoyed by it because he thought, ‘Hang on, I got injured in the Canadian Grand Prix, I’m more injured than what Sid’s saying’. I’m saying, ‘Don’t say that, it doesn’t matter, he’s signed you off, it’s all good, let’s get out of here’. Fortunately for us, Sid wouldn’t listen. Fast forward three days, Heinz wins the Grand Prix and on Sunday night, Sid comes past the garage and says, ‘I told you he wasn’t injured… As if you could win a Grand Prix when you’ve got a broken back’.”
Mark Gallagher, Head of Marketing, Jordan: “In parallel to Heinz having an amazing season in 1999, Damon had a very difficult time. Something that doesn’t often get written about, but is a fact, is that midway through that Magny-Cours race, Damon announced his retirement. When Damon got back to the paddock, he was really fed up and told BBC Radio 5 Live and everyone at the back of the paddock that he was retiring. But, of course, that news story got buried because of what happened next, when Heinz won the race.
“What then took place was a very difficult moment between Damon and Eddie [Jordan, Team Principal], where Damon wanted to stop, but he wanted to be paid, and frankly Eddie didn’t want to pay him, otherwise he would have to keep going. Instead, Damon kept going for the balance of the season and it wasn’t a very happy time. That French Grand Prix from my perspective was a very bittersweet day, because Damon was struggling and Heinz was able to deliver the win. It was a great victory, but from a communications side, it was a difficult afternoon for the team.”
