Irvine Plays Guessing Game as Jaguar Come Good

Eddie Irvine is revelling in a guessing game about his future after celebrating his first Formula One podium in more than a year.

The Jaguar driver, a surprising and emotional third at Sunday's Italian Grand Prix dominated by Ferrari, says he knows what he wants to do next year but the world will have to wait.

Rarely reluctant to express himself or make comments about his rivals, the oldest driver on the grid was keeping his mouth shut about career plans and prospects when his Jaguar contract ends after two more races.

The Northern Irishman, 37 in November, is a key piece in the almost completed jigsaw of driver moves and the subject of intense paddock speculation.

A move to Ford-powered Jordan, the team that gave him his debut in 1993, has been touted as a strong bet, with Minardi's Australian Mark Webber poised to step into his shoes at Jaguar. Other options would be staying on at Jaguar and heading off into retirement.

After Sunday's heroics at Monza there can be little doubt that he is still getting a kick out of competing and does not want to turn his back on the sport.

"Getting on the podium for Jaguar is as good as any win I've ever had," he told reporters before swerving away from the inevitable questions about his future.

"I know what I'm doing and this doesn't change anything...it doesn't make me any cheaper. I am very confident about what I am going to be doing next year. I have no idea when I will tell.

"I like playing this game, I'm really having a lot of fun. There's not much to amuse me these days but this is really amusing me."

Outspoken Character

Irvine, who won four races with Ferrari and is one of the undeniable outspoken characters in the sport, said he had started considering his options early on.

"I've been thinking from the beginning of the year about what I want to do next year," he said. "I had a few options and I still have a few options. I've pretty much decided what I want to do. I think we just wait and see."

Jaguar are finally emerging from a nightmare season, Irvine's four points at Monza lifting the Ford-owned team above Jordan and into sixth place at a crucial time in the calendar for them. The U.S. Grand Prix at Indianapolis is next up, with Ford's senior management likely to be paying close attention, and Jaguar can now travel with confidence.

Team boss Niki Lauda, who has had to fend off regular speculation this season about Ford's commitment to the marque's Formula One programme, was ecstatic.

"Perfect drive, nothing wrong, absolutely couldn't have done a better job," he said bluntly of a driver who has scored all Jaguar's eight points this year.

Lauda, who came out in support of Irvine last year when former team boss Bobby Rahal 'jokingly' offered the Briton to Jordan as a swap for Germany's Heinz-Harald Frentzen, said contract discussions could wait.

"We haven't discussed it yet with him or whatsoever because our main target was to get the car better," he said. "In Spa we made the first step forward with our new suspension, here in Monza we could prove it was the right way. So now we have to worry about the next two races and then we're going to talk.

"He did a perfect result. Eddie's race was absolutely astonishing," said Lauda.

Lame Dog

Few at Jaguar, despite having an engine ranked among the top four on the grid, could have hoped for such a turnaround after the 'Big Cat' proved to be more of a lame dog in the early part of the season. But the car has been completely revamped and a new wind tunnel brought on stream in Britain, instead of in California as was the case when the R3 was designed.

"We were fighting Minardis from the last row of the grid, so we did not have a little problem, we had a huge problem," said Lauda looking back on what now seems a bad dream. I'm happy now that we achieved something this season so therefore it will be easier to make a better car next year.

"All these rumours about Ford pulling in and out, I was never told this. But it's always better to produce results than to have no results. I like it that we now go to Indy with a third place in our pocket.

"Indy is a similar circuit to here so I don't see us going backwards. It's the other way round. I think we can stay basically where we are."