'McLaren and Ferrari are in sight' -Jordan

'We have them in our sights,' he said. 'If they drop their guard, we will be there to challenge them.

'Winning is the only thing I can think about at the moment. It is hard to describe, but it is like a drug I suppose. It is what makes me wake up in the morning.'

Jordan's team took third in the constructors' standings in 1999 and number one driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen was a title contender, eventually finishing third overall.

'I will be bitterly disappointed if we do anything less than finish third,' Jordan continued. 'To stand still or go backwards is not what we want.

'We have made big improvements with the car, the engine, the driver line-up and on the marketing side. Everything has moved up a pace.'

The Jordan-Mugen Honda EJ10's of Frentzen and new team mate Jarno Trulli were consistent frontrunners during winter testing.

Although differing conditions and fuel levels made true comparisons difficult, Jordan would appear to be heading into the new season narrowly behind McLaren and Ferrari but ahead of the rest of the competition.