Jaguar buoyed by best form of 2002

Pedro de la Rosa will start 11th in Sunday's Brazilian Grand Prix, with team-mate Eddie Irvine 13th.

"We have made a dramatic turn for the better," said Lauda. "And a lot of that is down to the team getting the best out of the package. The Michelin tyres have been good, but for the first time this season, we have extracted a very good set-up for the Jaguar R3.

"The progress we are making is just reward for the meticulous work being undertaken and our decision to go with the R3 has been proved absolutely correct," he added. "We can now begin focusing in on the particular areas that need addressing."

Lauda believes that had de la Rosa not been baulked by a Minardi on his last run, the Spaniard would have been in the top 10. De la Rosa thought he would be fighting for 15th place on the grid, but now he thinks he can fight for championship points.

"I started the session expecting to qualify in the top 15," he said. "But because of the productive work we've achieved over the course of the free practice sessions, the car's handling characteristics have been transformed into something a lot more driveable. The good think is that both cars are in with a points-scoring chance tomorrow."

Team-mate Irvine was also happy with transformation of the car and he too is hoping the reliability of the R3 will mean it is challenging for points in a notoriously hard race.

"We've made some pretty big changes to the R3 and it has paid dividends," said Irvine. "The R3 felt like a real racing car today. It is much better balanced and it's good to go into tomorrow's race safe in the knowledge that we have a package capable of challenging for points.

"The car is not the fastest machine on the grid right now, but with an 85 percent finishing rate so far this season, we must hope for other to fall victim of the high attrition rate of this circuit."