Jordan says Wolff will not silence him

Eddie Jordan says he will not be silenced, after being slammed by Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff.

In Baku, Wolff lashed out at the former F1 team owner turned television pundit for continually claiming Mercedes will quit the sport after 2018.

"I told him that this is very serious for me," Wolff said. "He should stop reporting these rumours — this fake news."

But Irishman Jordan has hit back, denying that he actually said Mercedes would quit on a specific date.

"I just said they are in F1 for marketing and technical reasons, not for charity, and they will go when it suits them," he is quoted by Speed Week.

"I just said the contracts with Petronas and UBS end in 2018.

"I can understand that Toto is angry about it, but that’s not my problem, that’s life," Jordan insisted. "If I say such a thing, I say it with conviction.

"He talked about the 1500 employees, but I’m talking about thousands of shareholders, and a decision that the executive board will make. If they find that the investments are no longer justified, they will be gone."

And so Jordan insists that, despite Wolff’s anger, he will not be silenced.

"My job is to tell people what I know," he said. "And that is exactly what I will continue to do.

"I have no problem with anyone," Jordan added. "I can go to any motor home, and if someone thinks I should not, they should tell me directly."

A Mercedes spokesman said Jordan is wrong that the UBS and Petronas contracts expire after 2018.