The sun shone all weekend in Monaco but the storm clouds are growing darker over the Jordan team.
The optimism of their lavish launch with circus acrobats in the Royal Albert Hall has been swept away on a tide of deepening depression, epitomised by the outcome at Formula One's most prestigious and image conscious arena.

For the sixth race in a row only one car finished - Damon Hill in eighth - after both started from row eight of the grid, their worst qualifying performance in five years. Team owner Eddie Jordan has rarely looked so grim-faced. "It's one of those weekends you need to forget. Right from the beginning we were not able to overcome the problems we have."

"Nothing we have done has been good enough", was Hill's verdict before fleeing home to Dublin. To make matters worse, Arrows, the team he swapped for Jordan, had two cars in the top six, leaving Jordan as one of only four teams without a point in 1998.

Minardi, Tyrrell and Prost are the others, hardly auspicious company for wannabe winners.

Changes in the wind

Clearly the car is not right. No pace, no grip. The question is how to find a cure. There are no quick fixes in Formula One.
Eddie Jordan has promised "radical changes". The drivers, he said, are not at fault so fingers are pointing at the design team, notably Technical Director Gary Anderson, who's been with Jordan since their F1 entry in 1990.
I understand there's to be a major shake-up in that department this week amid growing speculation that Tyrrell designer Mike Gascoyne could be about to replace Anderson.

Jordan has also insisted he's as committed as ever to Grand Prix racing. There have been growing rumours that he's about to sell up, making millions out of a deal with possibly Honda or Walter Wolf, the Canadian oil magnate, who's looking to buy back into F1.

But Jordan denied he was on his way out. "This is my life. I've put my heart and soul into it. I'm certainly not giving up."

Damon Hill and Ralf Schumacher, meanwhile, are at Silverstone this week - testing their patience as much as their cars' capabilities. The chances of improvement for the Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday week don't look good.