The Formula One establishment has been impressed but scarcely surprised by Eddie Jordan's latest business coup. The deal with Warburg Pincus breaks new ground as the global investor becomes the first financial institution to negotiate a partnership with a Grand Prix team. But the fact that Mr Jordan thought of it before anyone else is a clear indication of a hungry spirit capable of looking beyond the insular confines of a frequently self-important sport.

In many ways, Mr Jordan has gone back to his roots. A career in banking was lost to a love of motoring competition as he raced with moderate success before turning his energy to managing drivers and running his own team. The truth was that the deal in the paddock meant as much to Mr Jordan as victory on the track. It still does.

Mr Jordan will have been just as thrilled with this latest financial package as he was with his first Grand Prix victory in Belgium last August because both events will have a far-reaching effect on the future of his team. The win, the most spectacular of the season as Damon Hill led home a one-two for Jordan Grand Prix, has brought credibility which can only be earned the hard way. The deal with Warburg Pincus will ensure a financial security which will allow the 160-strong team to aim for the World Championship.

The important point is that this will happen at a time when Grand Prix racing, along with other leisure activities, continues to encourage a show-business element to dominate basic values. Bernie Ecclestone, the mastermind behind Formula One, has launched his Eurobond. The British Racing Drivers Club, which owns the Silverstone race track, has been the subject of a takeover worth £50 million sterling. And now Mr Jordan has attracted a leading global investor. Three years ago, it would have been unthinkable for financial institutions to get into bed with a high-risk business such as motor sport.

All of the leading teams are aware of the new opportunities. Or, at least, they think they are. The McLaren team, the 1998 title holder, and the Williams team, the outgoing champion, are run by people who know motor sport inside out but do not appear to have the vision to see beyond the pits. They state the obvious when mentioning partnerships with motor manufacturers such as Mercedes-Benz and BMW. By approaching a company which has no connection whatsoever with motor racing, Eddie Jordan has been alone in seeing the wider picture.

Indeed, a lively background as a part-time street trader (in his youth he flogged second-hand cars, carpet off-cuts and smoked salmon which had passed its sell-by-date as a means of financing his racing) makes him ideally qualified to seize the moment. While exercising an engaging line of chat, Mr Jordan talks money because he likes it and knows what it can do. He uses a turn of phrase which the boardroom understands. And he does it with honesty, his sponsors remarking that Mr Jordan avoids the easy temptation to make extravagant promises when predicting results.

Mr Jordan is also renowned for his cheerful flippancy but this latest venture is proof of the serious intent which has underpinned the development of his company. This jockey-sized bundle of energy has worked his way through the ranks as a team owner, winning championships before taking the final step into Formula One in 1991. He was the last individual to make the massive leap, a budget of £6 million fading into insignificance alongside the £300 million which British American Tobacco is believed to be investing in its new Formula One team.

Mr Jordan is intensely proud of his Irishness and the fact that he was, until this week, a sole owner. But the search for an investor indicated that he recognised his limitations as the sport accelerated towards previously unforeseen commercial opportunities. The investment by Warburg Pincus - which will not affect existing sponsors such as Benson & Hedges - gives Jordan Grand Prix the financial muscle to develop merchandising and into other significant areas which have more or less sprung from nowhere.

The Jordan team formulated its own brand image, almost as an aside, but such important potential was in danger of being lost since all available finance had to be directed towards the design and development of the racing car. And, as the team grew more successful, it also became necessary to source the £5 million or so needed to employ drivers capable of extracting the maximum from products of the team's high-tech facilities.

Warburg Pincus will have a hand in the extensive growth of one of the most colourful and popular teams in motor racing. And one of the most successful, too, if Eddie Jordan's latest scheme brings its rewards, both on and off the track.