Irvine threatens to quit

After miserable winter testing and a dismal couple of qualifying sessions, Jaguar's Eddie Irvine is ready to quit if the car does not improve. This is his last season of his Jaguar contract and he's ready to refuse another offer if there is no chance of him getting a competitive car for next year. The Jaguar R3 has been beset by problems and despite finishing fourth at the Australian Grand Prix, the Irishman knows that it was more down to circumstances than anything else.

"I have got to perform and if I don't perform I don't want to stay," he said. "I don't want to drive at the back of the field like a tosser and make a few million dollars. I can make plenty of money outside not to need it. I believe whatever will be will be and I will turn my hand to something else. But competition is what I enjoy so achieving that in whatever walk of life is not going to be an issue."

Irvine thinks that it's no fun to race when the performance is so poor, it's embarrassing: "It's not fun getting blown away. The only fun is to race. Last year I had so much fun in the races because we screwed up in qualifying then I had a good car for the race and it was fantastic. This year Australia was not fun even though I got three points. It was embarrassing. I would not want to continue here if it's like this but the good thing is I don't think it will."

Jaguar may have been reliable enough to finish the race in Australia but their poor form continues in Malaysia where Irvine qualified twentieth and team mate Pedro de la Rosa seventeenth. Aerodynamic modifications were made to the R3 for this weekend but if lack of competitiveness continues the team may revert to last year's R2 chassis.