Rahal gives Irvine his vote of confidence
Jaguar Racing boss Bobby Rahal has hit back at recent criticism of his lead driver Eddie Irvine by saying the Ulsterman is as committed as ever and not afraid of hard work

Irvine has developed a reputation as the 'bad boy' in Formula 1 over recent years. Since moving to Jaguar last year, after finishing second to Mika Hakkinen in the 1999 title race, the 35 year old has been accused of not taking his role with the struggling team seriously enough.
The criticism culminated in comments from former grand prix driver and fellow Ulsterman John Watson, who said last week that the Jaguar number one was in 'cruise and collect' mode.
"Eddie is still extremely committed," Rahal told Autsport's sister title Autocar. "If you've got to this level, you've got to be pretty confident in your abilities, given the right situation. If he was coasting, his lack of passion would be obvious."
Irvine himself reacted to the criticism while testing at Valencia in Spain last week, and believes his testing workload is proof enough that the comments are misplaced.
"Well, the lazy bastard is in the middle of a four-day test at Valencia," a deadpan Irvine told British national paper The Daily Telegraph. "It's comical. Look how much testing I've done in the last two years - every winter, all winter, since I came to Jaguar."
Despite Rahal's comments in support of his star driver, rumours suggest that the Jaguar management are hoping Pedro de la Rosa, who was promoted into the team's second race seat in place of Luciano Burti before the Spanish Grand Prix, will put more pressure on Irvine.
"In 24 races, I have only been out-qualified by my team mate three times," said Irvine.
Irvine was consistently half a second faster than de la Rosa at Valencia last week and out-qualified the Spaniard by seven places for the Spanish Grand Prix.

Minardi strikes out at Toyota’s Brunner deal
Williams not stymied by diffuser clarification

Latest news
The design changes teams face as F1 launch season begins
Formula 1 fans are eagerly waiting to see how much of the Red Bull RB19 being unveiled in New York City later on Friday is actually new.
Friday favourite: How Volvo's "no ego" pole king endeared himself to a BTCC champion
With the likes of Andy Rouse, Steve Soper, Alain Menu and Paul Radisich to chose from, Tim Harvey is spoiled for choice when it comes to picking a favourite team-mate. But it's a driver that the 1992 British Touring Car champion only raced alongside for a single season, Swedish ace Rickard Rydell, that is his number one in our ongoing weekly series
Why Gran Turismo 7 is a revelation in virtual reality
OPINION: The PSVR2 and the upcoming Gran Turismo 7 update provides the best console virtual reality experience to date, setting an example for other developers to follow
Bathurst 12 Hour: Marciello puts Mercedes on top in Friday practice
GruppeM Mercedes ended Friday on top at the Bathurst 12 Hour after Rafaelle Marciello topped the times in a crash shortened final practice.
Assessing Hamilton's remarkable decade as a Mercedes F1 driver
Many doubted Lewis Hamilton’s move from McLaren to Mercedes for the 2013 Formula 1 season. But the journey he’s been on since has taken the Briton to new heights - and to a further six world championship titles
Why new look Haas is a litmus test for Formula 1’s new era
OPINION: With teams outside the top three having struggled in Formula 1 in recent seasons, the rules changes introduced in 2022 should have more of an impact this season. How well Haas does, as the poster child for the kind of team that F1 wanted to be able to challenge at the front, is crucial
The Mercedes F1 pressure changes under 10 years of Toto Wolff
OPINION: Although the central building blocks for Mercedes’ recent, long-lasting Formula 1 success were installed before he joined the team, Toto Wolff has been instrumental in ensuring it maximised its finally-realised potential after years of underachievement. The 10-year anniversary of Wolff joining Mercedes marks the perfect time to assess his work
The all-French F1 partnership that Ocon and Gasly hope to emulate
Alpine’s signing of Pierre Gasly alongside Esteban Ocon revives memories of a famous all-French line-up, albeit in the red of Ferrari, for BEN EDWARDS. Can the former AlphaTauri man's arrival help the French team on its path back to winning ways in a tribute act to the Prancing Horse's title-winning 1983?
How do the best races of F1 2022 stack up to 2021?
OPINION: A system to score all the grands prix from the past two seasons produces some interesting results and sets a standard that 2023 should surely exceed
Who were the fastest drivers in F1 2022?
Who was the fastest driver in 2022? Everyone has an opinion, but what does the stopwatch say? Obviously, differing car performance has an effect on ultimate laptime – but it’s the relative speed of each car/driver package that’s fascinating and enlightening says ALEX KALINAUCKAS
Why F1's nearly man is refreshed and ready for his return
He has more starts without a podium than anyone else in Formula 1 world championship history, but Nico Hulkenberg is back for one more shot with Haas. After spending three years on the sidelines, the revitalised German is aiming to prove to his new team what the F1 grid has been missing
The potential-laden F1 car that Ferrari neglected
The late Mauro Forghieri played a key role in Ferrari’s mid-1960s turnaround, says STUART CODLING, and his pretty, intricate 1512 was among the most evocative cars of the 1.5-litre era. But a victim of priorities as Formula 1 was deemed less lucrative than success in sportscars, its true potential was never seen in period
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.