Frentzen: Jordan should ignore BAR developments

The 33-year-old German, who finished a disappointing ninth in last year's World Championship after finishing third in 1999, warned that only hard work on the new EJ11 chassis will make it faster than BAR's 03.

"It's not important really to see what BAR is doing, it's important to make progress and develop our car as quickly as possible," he said. "We have a lot of pressure to solve a lot of problems. But I think we are able to cope with the situation pretty well - I think we are able to go back to having the chance of winning races. At the moment it's difficult to look left or right, and see what the other teams are doing."

Frentzen things that aerodynamic rule changes over the winter will give teams like Jordan and BAR the opportunity to close the gap to big guns Ferrari and McLaren.

"The new regulations are giving a big challenge to really get right from the beginning, to get the maximum out of, let's say, the holes or spaces that the new regulations have made," he added. "I estimate that the teams like McLaren and Ferrari from the beginning are at a very high level, maybe better than most of the other teams. They have got more background, they have got very sophisticated wind tunnels, and they have got a lot of experience to use the regulations as much as possible. We know about the problems, and we also have spent more time in the wind tunnel than in the past, and in this respect we are gearing up."

Despite his poor season in 2000, when Jordan suffered horrendous reliability problems, mainly due to gearbox electronics, Frentzen is upbeat about turning his fortunes around.

"It was very difficult last year, especially for me as driver," he said. "You are so responsible for the motivation as well of the whole team. It's easy to motivate people when you win races and you are successful. Motivation is coming in very easily to the people. But if you are suffering and have some problems it's also really difficult time and again to get the maximum out of yourself, and as well trying not to lose the focus. I found that very difficult last year."

For full Heinz-Harald Frentzen Q&A, click HERE.