Crucial year for Irvine ?

It wasn't so long ago that Eddie Irvine was adamantly denying he was thinking of retiring from Formula One, then recently in Melbourne he commented that a driver was 'only as good as their last race'. Irvine's contract with Jaguar Racing is up at the end of this year and with the troubles on the new R3 the Irishman is hinting that it may be him that makes the break with them, rather than vice versa.

"This will be my last season with Jaguar unless they convince me they are going places," he said. "But my contract does not run out until the end of the year so there is plenty of time to make a decision. My job is to lift myself and the team up. The greatest joy in my life is driving quickly, so I have to help find a way of making the car go faster."

Jaguar managed to bring both cars home in Melbourne, Irvine finishing third in the recalcitrant R3 and team mate Pedro de la Rosa eighth, but the team are under no illusions that the car is competitive enough. Qualifying was appalling with both cars at the back of the grid -- circumstances rather than speed put them in the points in the race and there is already talk of them reverting to last year's R2 in time for Brazil.