Irvine overjoyed at points finish to season

Ulsterman Irvine finished the Malaysian Grand Prix sixth after starting from seventh on the grid behind British American Racing's Jacques Villeneuve. Irvine then drove a steady race in his R1 working his way past Benetton's Alex Wurz during the 56-lap race.

"It is a pleasing to end the season with a point -- a hard earned point at that," said Irvine, who has scored three points for Jaguar after finished fourth at Monaco in June.

"Whenever the top four finish, the battle for crumbs is tight," he added. But it is an encouraging way to end the season and shows that there is a lot of potential in this team and this car.

"There is obviously a lot of work to do over the winter, and if that goes well, I think we can start next season in a much better position."

Irvine will team up with Formula 1 newboy Luciano Burti next season after the retirement of Johnny Herbert, who crashed out of the Malaysian Grand Prix, and was lucky to escape injury.

"It is a very sad way for Johnny to end the season," Irvine added. "He has had a lot of bad luck and we all would have preferred to see Johnny finish his career on a better note."

To see the final results of the Malaysian GP click HERE.

To see how the race unfolded with autosport.com's lap by lap report click HERE.

To see the final drivers' championship standings click HERE.

To see the final constructors' standings click HERE.