Malaysia’s the acid test, says Jordan

Jordan's Honda-powered EJ 11s were best of the rest in qualifying behind Ferrari and McLaren (see below) and in the race itself, Heinz-Harald Frentzen was briefly third before being pushed off the road by Rubens Barrichello's Ferrari. The German was eventually classified fifth, while team mate Jarno Trulli also ran strongly befor being side-lined by an engine problem.

However, Jordan told Autosport's sister publication Motoring News that he is urging caution as the F1 circus heads to Sepang in Malaysia.

"Melbourne has always been a good race for us in the past, so we have to be careful," he said. "Conversely, Malaysia has never been good. We have usually been crap there, so this weekend will be a true test."

Jordan has endured a number of key staff changes over the last year, including the departure of technical director Mike Gascoyne. Coming off the back of a disappointing 2000 season, many believed the team could struggle this time around.

"I told the lads to forget about what the press wrote about staff changes," said Jordan, "because if we performed well, no one would be in the slightest bit interested.

"Everyone also makes a fuss about our rivalry with BAR," he added, "because we are the Honda-powered teams. But BAR is not our enemy - everyone is.

"Perhaps McLaren and Ferrari only look at each other, but my main task this year is to make them consider us from time to time."

Taking the performance of both cars from each team into account, Jordan's qualifying effort was best of the rest in the Australian GP. But for the most improved performance, take a look at the leap made by Williams in its second season with BMW power. Last year the Grove-based equipe was ninth - this year it was fourth.

The stats show the positions this year and last year and the number of places risen or fallen, plus how close each team is to the pole as an average of its two cars. Benetton and Arrows, both with new engines for 2001 in the shape of Renault and AMT, are the joint biggest fallers.





Ferrari (2), , 100.213 per cent (100.588 per cent)
2 McLaren (1), , 100.971 (100.195)
3 Jordan (3), , 101.295 (100.967)
4 Williams (9), , 101.538 (102.725)
5 BAR (6), , 101.824 (102.194)
6 Sauber (8), , 102.200 (102.365)
7 Jaguar (7), , 103.544 (102.231)
8 Benetton (4), , 103.717 (102.018)
9 Arrows (5), , 103.838 (102.036)
10 Prost (10), , 103.974 (102.821)
11 Minardi (11), , 105.812 (103.784)