Jaguar to Use Modified R3 in Malaysia

The Jaguar team have introduced modifications to their R3 car in the hope of moving forward at this weekends's Malaysian Grand Prix, but reverting to last year's R2 is still an option.

"We do have some modifications done with our car, which I hope go well," said team boss Niki Lauda, speaking at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur. "We will see where we end up, but we have a lot of work to do to get R3 up to speed.

"If it takes too long to get R3 going quicker, there might be a possibility that we bring R2 back."

The Ford-owned squad endured a torrid time during the season opening Australian Grand Prix, where their drivers Eddie Irvine and Pedro de la Rosa qualified in 19th and 20th positions respectively.

Irvine, however, took advantage of the carnage at the start of the race and finished in fourth place, although one lap behind winner Michael Schumacher.

Since then, Jaguar have revealed they were considering switching back to last year's R2 chassis, and Lauda said the decision will be made after Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix.

"We concentrated on R3, but if we still have problems, if it takes too long to get R3 going quicker, there might be a possibility that we bring the R2 back," Lauda added. "Basically the car is very little tested, and therefore our performance wasn't good.

"The real decision will be the race here. We will have to wait and see how it happens because it's complicated to take back the R2."