The Midland Group's interest in Formula One began in 2004. After considering the creation of a new team or the purchase of Jaguar, Shnaider signed a deal to buy the Jordan team from Eddie Jordan for $60 million ahead of the 2005 season. The acquisition meant the new entity was a legal continuation of Jordan rather than a fresh entry, sparing Midland from Formula One's $48 million new-team entry bond and entitling them to television revenue earned by Jordan's ninth-place constructors' championship finish.
The team retained the Jordan name throughout 2005, fielding rookie drivers Narain Karthikeyan and Tiago Monteiro. The outfit generally ran at the back of the field. Highlights included Monteiro's third-place finish at the United States Grand Prix — a race in which only six cars competed following the Michelin tyre controversy — and an eighth place at Spa in wet conditions, which proved to be the last points scored under the Jordan name. Monteiro's consistent run of classified finishes also underlined the car's mechanical reliability.
Behind the scenes, speculation mounted that Midland was dissatisfied with the purchase even before the team raced under its own name. Team principal Trevor Carlin departed after seven races, and chief engineer and designer Mark Smith left before the season ended. Reports also linked the team with a buy-out from former Formula One driver Eddie Irvine.
The team entered the 2006 championship as MF1 Racing. The new Midland M16 wore a red, white, and black livery reflecting the Midland Group's corporate colours and ran leased Toyota customer engines. Russian driver Roman Rusinov tested the M16 during the winter, while MotoGP star Max Biaggi also conducted a test at Silverstone in January. Italian constructor Dallara had originally been contracted to develop the M16, but the agreement was dissolved during the design phase following a disappointing contribution. The team subsequently promoted James Key to technical director, placing its faith in the incumbent design group.
Shnaider had publicly stated his intention to field Formula One's first Russian race driver, but the team ultimately signed Dutchman Christijan Albers from Minardi and retained Tiago Monteiro, after an unsuccessful bid to sign Takuma Sato. Three drivers rotated through the Friday practice role across the season: Markus Winkelhock appeared at Sakhir, Melbourne, Hockenheim, and the Hungaroring; Giorgio Mondini attended nine events including Sepang, Imola, Barcelona, and Monza; and Adrian Sutil took the Nürburgring and Magny-Cours slots.
On track, MF1 Racing gradually improved across the season, moving from running comfortably behind the entire field to occasionally challenging midfield teams such as Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso. Tyre development from Bridgestone, combined with aerodynamic and handling improvements overseen by Simon Phillips and Richard Frith respectively, allowed the team to reach Q2 eight times from a possible 36 attempts, with a best qualifying position of 14th. The lap time deficit was cut from roughly four seconds per lap in 2005 to approximately two seconds per lap by the time of the sale.
Those gains did not translate into results. The team was caught up in first-lap accidents at Monaco, Indianapolis, and Montreal, and was disqualified from the German Grand Prix for running a flexible wing in breach of the technical regulations.
Rumours of a sale circulated throughout the second half of the 2006 season, less than two years after Shnaider had bought the team. With Formula One capping the grid at twelve teams after 2008 and all entry places already filled, existing teams had become significantly more valuable. On 9 September 2006 the sale to Spyker Cars N.V. was confirmed at a price of $106.6 million. ITV Sport reported the following day that Shnaider had stepped away from the team entirely.
Colin Kolles remained as team principal. Michiel Mol joined as Director of F1 Racing and a Spyker board member, while Mike Gascoyne came in as Chief Designer at the end of the season. Because regulations prohibit mid-season name changes, Spyker entered as the team's title sponsor for the final three races, which were contested under the official name Spyker MF1 Racing with a revised livery. Three test drivers also appeared at those events: Alexandre Prémat at Shanghai, Adrian Sutil at Suzuka, and E.J. Viso at Interlagos. In 2007 the team competed as Spyker F1. From 2008 onwards, following a purchase by Indian businessman Vijay Mallya, it raced as Force India.