Lauda pledges to take Jaguar all the way

Lauda is the CEO of the newly created Premier Performance Division - which comprises the Jaguar F1 squad, engine-builder Cosworth Racing and data acquisition experts Pi Research - and is confident of what he wants to achieve.

"When Jaguar offered me the job, Bernie [Ecclestone] advised me to take it," Lauda told British national newspaper, The Sunday Telegraph. "I'm going to London because Jaguar has not won anything, yet, and that's why I decided to accept the challenge. To be honest, the offer came at just the right time. I'm going to put Jaguar at the top of Formula 1."

The 51-year-old Austrian has left Vienna and relocated to London, where the PPD offices are located, to take on his new role, but the move comes as more than just a change of career. The Austrian was forced to leave Lauda Air last November after a string of boardroom battles and financial difficulties.

"Why should I stay there when they have brutally driven me out like a dog, just because I wouldn't let myself be trained to stay to heel? I could not stand to see my life's work destroyed," he said.

Lauda is to liase with the President of the Premier Automotive Group Wolfgang Reitzle in a move that will attempt to simplify the decision making process for the F1 team and take away the accountability to the Ford HQ - which owns PAG - in Detroit.

The Formula 1 legend has more than 30 years of experience within the sport to draw on and also acted as a consultant to Ferrari in the Nineties, but sees his new position as a more committed role to anything he has done in F1 before. "It's a new phase in my life," he said. "I'll have to start at zero."

Lauda may have been welcomed into the Jaguar Racing squad by its top brass, but driver Eddie Irvine has lashed out at the Austrian's recent suggestion that he was only quick "when he's in the right mood".

Irvine told British tabloid The Sun: "I find it odd that Niki Lauda, who will be involved in my Jaguar Racing team this season, should suggest I occasionally need a kick up the backside to keep motivated. No-one is more self-critical and I certainly don't need anyone - not even a three times World Champion - telling me otherwise."