Irvine in no hurry to sort next year

The Irishman has been linked to a possible return to Jordan, which he left for Ferrari at the end of 1995, but the latest word is that Takuma Sato is favourite to see out the second year of a firm contract with the team alongside Giancarlo Fisichella.

"I'm in no hurry to do anything," Irvine said, while refuting as "a joke" suggestions that he might consider a return to Ferrari to fulfil a testing role. "That's hard work," he commented, "you drive round and round Mugello for two whole days and then it takes a week to recover!"

For the moment Irvine is concentrating on trying to make the best of his situation at Jaguar. "We've got new front suspension on the car with new uprights to stiffen the thing up. We tried it at Silverstone and it helped in certain areas but there is still more to do."

As for the team's progress or lack of it, Irvine said: "Gunther [Steiner] has done a good job but he's still finding his way and has probably got a bit too much to do. A large part of the progress is due to his personality and the confidence he instils in people. We have improved the car a lot and the last three races have been better."

The team has signed former British American Racing technical director Malcolm Oastler to strengthen its design department. He will take up the role of director of engineering.