Jordan boss Eddie Jordan has used British tabloid The Sun to launch a stark warning to race fans and indeed the sport, if F1 loses the minnows, the sport will die.

The Irishman warns that his team, along with Minardi, is on the edge of extinction and that if either of them - or god forbid both them of them - go under, the sport could begin a long slippery slide into oblivion.

Ever since it came into F1 in 1991, Jordan has dared to be a little different, to walk the wild side, with team boss Eddie determined to put the fun back into a sport that he believed had lost its way and become too corporate.

"We are not the clowns of the business" says the Irishman, "we are deadly serious about what we do. But the truth is we don't have the money to compete on a level playing field.

"Instead, we try and provide our own brand of entertainment, as do Minardi. We bring a bit of rock and roll to the paddock while the corporate teams send out a very dull image. The sport needs a human element in it and that's what we provide. We give Formula One the David and Goliath battle and, occasionally, we slay the big guys."

In 1999 Jordan almost joined the 'big guys' finishing third in the constructors' championship, while his driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen finished third in the drivers' championship, at long last the Silverstone team had arrived.

2000 wasn't the best of seasons while in 2001 Jordan sacked Frentzen - for reasons never publicly disclosed - on the eve of his home race. In April 2002 Jordan shocked the pitlane when he announced a major re-shuffle within the team, reducing his workforce by around 15% and dropping several high-profile team members who had been there since the early days. At the time Jordan confessed to having taken his eye off the ball and revealed that he would be playing a more central 'hands on' role in future.

Next came the 'misunderstanding' over the 'works' engine deal which eventually turned out to be a customer supply from Ford. Finally in the close season the team lost its major sponsors and for a while it really looked as though Jordan might not make it to the grid in Melbourne.

Thankfully, Benson & Hedges increased its financial commitment to the team, and the season got off to a dream start when Giancarlo Fisichella took a great victory in Brazil.

At present Jordan is involved in a high profile court case with Ferrari sponsor Vodafone, which if it doesn't win will cost the team more precious money, not to mention a serious image problem with would-be sponsors.

"The court case has caused me sleepless nights and taken the attention away from what I should be doing at the track and off it," says Jordan.

"F1 desperately needs teams like Jordan, who are entrepreneurs, because the way we operate has made us the darlings of the pit-lane," adds the Irishman.

"And look at the young drivers we have helped bring into the sport. We gave Jean Alesi, Michael Schumacher, Eddie Irvine and Rubens Barrichello their first breaks. "That's why it seems bizarre that the team we are having the most aggro with is Ferrari, where they all ended up."

The 'aggro' that Jordan refers to refers to the fact that Ferrari has said that it will not contribute to the so-called 'fighting fund', when one of the proposed recipients of the fund is suing one of its main sponsors, even Bernie Ecclestone described the situation as lending money to someone who's sleeping with your wife. Jordan is suing Ferrari's sponsor yet wants the Italian team give his team money to survive. It's not on is it?

"The big teams feed off the small ones like Jordan," he adds. "While that is understandable, they still exert other demands on us which I find unfair. It's vital we keep going because, in the past, it was smaller teams that kept the sport alive while the manufacturers decided to opt out.

Of course Jordan doesn't mention the notorious 'Friday 13' press conference in Canada when he attended a special meeting with the big teams to which Minardi boss Paul Stoddart was refused entry.

Previously Jordan and Minardi were seen as allies, minnows struggling against an overwhelming tide. When Jordan appeared to side with the big teams, allegedly after being promised a Mercedes engine deal, Stoddart said that the Irishman had been 'nobbled', for when given the chance to air some of his grievances publicly he refused to do so, instead he appeared uncomfortable under questioning from the media and was subsequently branded 'Judas Jordan' by the Australian.

"They now form the bulk of the grid but what happens if they pull out tomorrow?" adds Jordan referring to the manufacturers that 'support' the big teams. "If car sales suddenly drop dramatically they will be gone," he adds, echoing something that many of us have been saying for years. "If Ferrari is split from Fiat then where are they going to get the money to run the team? We have kept going through thick and thin.

"I do not believe there are any teams that would wilfully try and squeeze us out but I feel certain things are happening which are making life more difficult for us.