Rahal happy to turn back on F1 politics

Rahal, who was shown the door by Jaguar bosses last Friday, has returned to the helm of his eponymous Champ Car outfit, which is currently leading the drivers' championship with Kenny Brack. And while he was sorry to leave the Jaguar Racing squad, he is happy to see the back of certain aspects of F1.

"I've got a great thing here," Rahal told CART.com. "And it's refreshing to come back to CART because the ability to compete is so easy compared to F1 and all the politics."

Following a meeting last Thursday between Rahal, Lauda and Jaguar Cars chairman Wolfgang Reitzle, it was announced on Friday, along with Rahal's departure, that Lauda would be taking over the team with immediate effect.

The pair are thought to have come to blows over issues such as losing the exclusivity of the team's Cosworth engine deal for next year and Rahal's 'joke' offer of selling Jaguar's number one driver Eddie Irvine to the Jordan team.

"Niki and I clearly had very different management styles," continued Rahal. "And you can't have one guy doing one thing and the other going another direction. This was surprising, certainly, but I guess people do what they have to do."

Jaguar has scored just five points so far this year and despite a third place for Irvine at Monaco in May, the Milton Keynes-based squad has not made much progress since. Nevertheless, Rahal believes the team is close to making a big step forward.

"I enjoyed so much of my time over there," he said. "And the biggest disappointment will be not being around to see the new R3 chassis. I believe Steve Nichols and Mark Handford have designed a very good car. And I think Jaguar has a good team. It's not that far off."