Irvine's title dreams a step closer

The Ulsterman qualified second - directly in front of title rival Mika Hakkinen who starts fourth and said he had resisted the temptation to go for pole so that he would be stronger in the race.

Irvine trails the world champion by two points with just this race and one more in Suzuka in a fortnight still to go.

'I am very pleased to have an all-Ferrari front row when you consider what we are trying to achieve,' said a smiling Irvine.

The super-cool Ferrari driver even kept back one set of tyres to give himself an extra race in tomorrow's 67 lap race.

'I could see that David was having trouble improving his time by more than a few tenths so I thought I would keep back a set of tyres for the race,' said Irvine.

'It is better to be in a good position tomorrow than a hero today.

'I am surprised by the gap t the McLarens but it is easy to lose time in every sector here because the track is not that easy.'

He smilied as he thought of Hakkinen starting fourth, immediately behind him on the grid.

'Handy isn't it - I won't be looking behind I'll be looking ahead.

'It was nice of DC to bump Mika down another rung.'

He did not give the credit for Ferrari's sudden return to prominence to Schumacher.

'Who knows how much is down to Michael? There is very little difference to the car we had in Nurburgring.

'We have showed the potential before now and this performance just come in time.'