By Alex Johnston
In this new feature ‘A Bunch of Questions’, I’ll be asking a racing driver some tailored questions about them and their career. For the first edition of the feature, British former Formula 2 and IndyCar driver, Jordan King spoke with me.
Jordan has featured in numerous series including; the World Endurance Championship, IndyCar, F2 and F3, while also testing for teams in Formula 1, Formula E and the British Touring Car Championship.
Have a look at what Jordan has to say!
1. You’ve raced against the likes of Daniil Kvyat, Nicholas Latifi, Esteban Ocon, Charles Leclerc and Pierre Gasly? Are one of these the best you’ve ever raced against or does someone else stand out to you? I have raced against plenty of drivers that are in F1 and other high forms of motorsport, the one that stands out for me as being the best and I have a direct comparison was Tom Blomqvist as he was the hardest team mate to beat and knew how to make a car faster so it was great to work with him.
📸 Like Jordan, Tom Blomqvist has competed in numerous series, including Formula E, WEC, IMSA and DTM.
2. How was your experience in America when you joined the IndyCar series? I loved my time over there, I wish I could raise the sponsorship and get myself back out there.
📸 Hoping the IndyCar door opens for Jordan again!
3. How did the Manor F1 team help your development as a driver? It was a fantastic experience not only driving the F1 car but also working with some great engineers and it has definitely helped me further down the line with my knowledge and specially in the roles I have with Alpine and Mahindra.
📸 On duty in the Manor Racing car. Underrated livery by the way.
4. You’ve raced on numerous circuits across the world as you’ve tried different series’ out; what is your favourite circuit you’ve raced on? A very common question but I’m afraid I always give a boring answer. I don’t have a favourite circuit.
5. What your favourite you’ve not raced? I suppose my above answers this, but there are plenty of circuits out there that I would love to drive on.
6. Could you briefly explain what you do in your role as a driver coach? The coaching I have done over the years have been with team and drivers directly. It varies with the type of driver as to how you approach the learning process, but when you see results it’s very rewarding.
7. In 2019 you were teammates with Mahaveer Raghunathan, who became something of a cult hero among racing fans, did you get on well with him? How did you rate him? Yes, I got on well with him and actually had one of the most fun years of racing with MP that year. Mahaveer made some great progress throughout the year and everyone in the team worked hard to achieve this. The highlight of his year came in Monza where he scored his first point on merit in the Feature Race.
📸 Raghunathan surprised many when he got his first and only point in F2 at Monza.
8. Pato O’Ward replaced Mahaveer when he served a race ban, did he look like he’d go as far as he’s gone so far in his career? No doubt he is a good driver. But in motorsport you never know a lot of the final success comes down to right place, right time and he hit the sweet spot.
📸 O’Ward has gone on to have a successful IndyCar career so far since he featured in F2.
9. How much can you tell me about your role you held with Alpine as a simulator driver? Not a lot, as most of the stuff we do is development work, but we do also do the race support so when they are on track we run on the simulator to correlate the set up and try and make it faster.
📸 The work Jordan does helps Alpine understand the car better, and pull off results like Fernando Alonso did in qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix.
10. You’ve taken steps into commentary with coverage of F2 and F3 alongside Alex Jacques(and Harry Benjamin); is that something you’d like to continue doing long term? Yes! It’s still only the second year I have done it but I would like it to grow but I’m sure I still need to get better at it.
📸 In the booth with current F3 commentator, Harry Benjamin.
11. You hold a reserve role with Mahindra in Formula E at the moment; is getting a seat in Formula E a plan for you at the moment or are you awaiting a different opportunity? I would love to get a seat in Formula E, I’m not sure if or when that will come but it is definitely something I would like to work towards.
📸 King on reserve duty with Mahindra.
12. You raced the prestigious 24h of Le Mans but sadly retired from the race in 2019, what makes that race so appealing to racing drivers and do you plan to be racing there again? I would love to race it again so we will have to see if an opportunity comes up again. I think any race where you are going for 24 hours has an appeal, it’s hard on everything involved and you are pushing flat out. LeMans stands out with the history and the fans really make the event super cool.
📸 In World Endurance action at Le Mans.
13. You do a lot of charity work and fundraising, what is a cause you feel really strongly for and would advise people to get involved with charity wise? All the fundraising I do is for Birmingham Children’s Hospital. I mean the name says it all they do some fantastic work for looking after sick children so I would push anyone to help raise funds for them. The reason I am such a big advocate for the hospital is that they treated me at 11 months old for cancer and saved my life so I obviously have a deep connection in wanting them to succeed.
📣 Jordan has completed a North Coast of Scotland cycle and a run along the length of Hadrian’s Wall(139km) to raise money for Birmingham Children’s Hospital.
14. Who was your best ever teammate in any series? Probably answered this in question 1!
15. Are there any series you’re still keen to try out? I would be happy to try and series out, I think I’m quite a diverse driver and can be quick in anything so more than happy to give anything a go.
16. A question from commentator, presenter and Downforce Radio founder; Jake Sanson - How did you come to accept that the Formula 1 dream was over? I’m not sure I fully have accepted it. It’s depressing and pains me daily.
📸 Jordan preparing for F1 testing duty with Manor Racing.
17. Question from writer Chris Hosie - How did it feel competing in the WEC against the worlds finest sportscar superstars? WEC is a really cool championship and I really like the endurance style of racing just everything about it is really cool.
📸 Suited and booted for WEC action.
Some really great answers and some great reading when I received them, and hopefully for you, the reader.
Thanks so much to Jordan for taking the time out of his hectic schedule. I’d very much like to speak again with him to talk more about himself, his charity work and of course, racing!
Image credit(s): Formula Motorsport Limited, Sky Sports, Jordan King, BBC, IndyCar Series, WEC.
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