Eddie Irvine and the Jaguar team were celebrating after securing a valuable point at the Belgian Grand Prix.
Eddie Irvine and the Jaguar team were celebrating after securing a valuable point at the Belgian Grand Prix.
Irvine started in eighth place. He maintained his position to benefit from the retirements of Kimi Raikkonen and Jarno Trulli to finish in sixth place. Team-mate Pedro de la Rosa also had a good race before retiring with what seemed to be suspension problems with six laps remaining.
“My start was quite reasonable and I didn’t lose any places going into or coming out of the tight first corner. The aim from there on was to maintain position and preserve the tyres,” said Irvine.
“We did everything right this weekend from qualifying well to our race preparation and strategy,” he said. “The car felt pretty good throughout the race and caused me no real problems. It wasn’t the most exciting race I have ever had, but it just highlights the importance of qualifying well.
“Our race pace was very good and very comparable to Williams and McLaren over the 44 laps of this race. The next three races should be interesting and I am particularly looking forward to Monza and Suzuka where we hope to demonstrate a similar level of performance.”
Team boss Niki Lauda was raving after the race, especially after being told by Ford recently that they had to improve, which led to speculation that the manufacturer could abandon the F1 team.
“It was a very impressive all-round performance, especially from Eddie. We have been encouraged all weekend with the performance of the Jaguar R3 and combined with great support from Michelin, the package has rewarded us all with a championship point,” said Lauda.
“Pedro also drove a very strong race and it is disappointing not to have seen his hard work rewarded with a finish. We are not 100 per cent sure at this stage, but his retirement appears to have been forced by a rear suspension failure.
“Given the strength of the top three teams and the challenges of this circuit, I am delighted by the conclusion to this race weekend and it’s just reward for the very hard work that is going into this program by everyone back at Milton Keynes. We have three races left on the calendar and we will now aim to take full advantage from what we have learned this weekend.”