Jaguar Still Searching for Solutions

Jaguar arrived at the British Formula One Grand Prix full of hope but departed on Sunday still scratching their heads in bewilderment.

Their revised R3 car, with a new go-faster aerodynamic package, had been supposed to provide some of the answers to the old car's lack of form but it too proved a major disappointment at Silverstone.

Both Jaguar drivers qualified near the rear of the field - Spaniard Pedro de la Rosa last of all - and points proved as elusive as ever. Team boss Niki Lauda agreed that, having revamped the aerodynamics, the drivers were demoralised and it was clear that something else was not right with the machine.

"This weekend the aero package really gave us a time that was disappointing," he told reporters. "So therefore we have to keep on looking. The thing we found out about the new car is pretty simple: We added quite a bit of downforce to the car, which our new wind tunnel presented to us."

Lauda said the car appeared to have improved by between two to four tenths of a second in lap times but the wind tunnel data had predicted a bigger gain.

"So now we have to analyse very carefully what the other problem is," he told reporters. "This is now what we really have to do. You can ask the question why don't you attack all things before. But before you don't know."

More Tests

"We are going to find out in the next 10 days what the other cause could be and we are analysing this already since the Barcelona test," added the Austrian, whose team tested inconclusively in Spain last week.

"We have to look carefully now into everything else...we did stress test the car in the past and this looks okay. But nobody can give the answer at the moment."

Spaniard Pedro de la Rosa qualified by the skin of his teeth, clocking a valid time just four seconds before the end of the session, while Eddie Irvine started his home race in 19th place.

The Northern Irishman had suggested at the last race at the Nurburgring in Germany that Jaguar would surprise their rivals and move up the grid in Britain with a major development.

The 36-year-old also said that his own future, and whether or not he stays in Formula One, would depend on whether or not he was offered a competitive car. The revised R3 is clearly not that at the moment.

Irvine spun off after 23 laps as he came out of a slippery Stowe corner and the car was grounded in the gravel trap, ending what may have been his last British Grand Prix.

"Not the way to leave your mark on your home race but, with only 11 cars finishing the race today, it isn't hard to appreciate the challenges that everyone was faced with today," said Irvine.

Struggled Home

De la Rosa struggled home in 11th place.

"We finished the race which is really all you can say," commented Niki Lauda.

He said he and the drivers were demoralised by the lack of results. Jaguar have only three points so far this season and lie eighth in the constructors' standings. But Lauda added that the drivers could also not agree between themselves on the nature of the problems.

"Sometimes we get different opinions from one driver to the other. Eddie's complaining about oversteer and Pedro about understeer. I agree we have both problems, but nevertheless I'd like to know which is the more demanding one and that is also difficult to find out."