“I am delighted that Jean is joining us again,” said Eddie Jordan, on confirmation of his new signing. “His experience will be invaluable to us, but equally important will be his energy and enthusiasm. He is a great motivator and will drive the Jordan Honda EJ11 with real fire in his belly. With Jean alongside Jarno (Trulli), Jordan now has a charismatic and vibrant pairing which we hope will be transferred into powerful results on track.”

Jean Alesi commented, “I am overjoyed by this development in my career. Eddie launched me into Formula One, so to return to race for him after all this time is something very special. Although I will not be able to test the car before racing in Hungary, I feel so motivated that I don't believe this will be a problem. I am very excited.”

Alain Prost tried everything to keep Jean, but in the end it wasn’t worth the fight. He said he had released Alesi so as not to upset the team's balance. “It is essential to preserve the team's harmony while we are building up Prost Grand Prix's future and consolidating our strategy for the upcoming years... this is why I chose to release Jean,” he said.

When asked about Heinz-Harald’s sacking, Eddie said it was "not linked" with the hiring of the Frenchman, and added that Alesi had been talking to the team for a lot longer than people thought. "There has not been a year which goes by when Jean does not come to talk to me about driving for Jordan,” explained the team boss. "We are old friends, so this is normal, but we only struck this deal once Jean was free to join Jordan.
"Alain Prost and I are also very good friends and it is important to make clear that there is absolutely no animosity over the course of events that have lead to Jean joining Jordan," he continued.