Lauda Warns Not to Get Carried Away

Jaguar boss Niki Lauda warned not to read too much into their times in today's practice sessions for the French Grand Prix.

The Milton Keynes squad, in the second race with their revised R3B chassis, enjoyed a very promising start on Friday at the Magny-Cours circuit, with Irishman Eddie Irvine setting the sixth fastest time while teammate Pedro de la Rosa was two places behind in eighth.

However, despite one of their most promising performances of the year, Austrian Lauda warned that the important test will take place in Saturday's qualifying, where the Ford-owned team are confident of a stronger performance than in England two weeks ago.

"A pleasing start to our French Grand Prix weekend, but it's way too early to read into anything," said Lauda. "Friday lap times are notoriously deceptive and while our times are pleasing, it is impossible to say where we rank alongside the competition â€" something we will find out at 1400hrs tomorrow.

"We are running the Cosworth CR-3 engine today and for qualifying and the race, we will use the latest CR4. Neither driver reported any major problem today and all efforts will now be focused on getting the best from this new package which we are still learning about.

"The Michelin tyres are working well at their home race and while I cannot make any predictions about the weekend, one thing is for sure, we'll do a better job here than we did at Silverstone. We understand the new aero package better, the weather is to our liking and we are better prepared all-round."

The Cosworth-powered R3B made its racing debut at the British Grand Prix, but the revised car failed to shine, with de la Rosa finishing in 11th position while Irvine retired.