Rahal Talks about his Jaguar Leave

Former Jaguar team boss Bobby Rahal believes his release from the team last year was unjust and does not see better prospects for his successor, Niki Lauda.

Rahal was ousted from his job after only eight months, after the American CART team owner was reported to have attempted to sell the team's contract with Eddie Irvine to rivals Jordan Grand Prix. Rahal, however, insisted the offer was not serious and still claims as such today.

"It was only in jest," Rahal told the Sunday Mirror. "I was chatting to Jordan and when he mentioned Irvine I said, 'I have to check on it'."

Nevertheless, Rahal says Irvine is the wrong driver for Jaguar. "Irvine's public persona can demotivate a team and there was a period when it had that effect," Rahal said. "Pedro [de la Rosa], on the other hand, is the kind of guy the team needed. He's more than capable and has the right persona. He was certainly the faster of the two last year."

Speaking of his premature leave and of his replacement Lauda, Rahal told the newspaper: "Jaguar have cast their lot with [Niki] so the assumption is that they are prepared to be patient with him. We'll see at the end of the year.

"I think there was an improvement last year. Things were progressing. But I didn't have the confidence of Jaguar's upper management. I didn't want to leave. There's no way you can run a company single-handedly - you need able lieutenants and that's what I was trying to put in place."

Asked if he misses Formula One, now that he is back to the United States and his CART team, Rahal said: "I don't miss the politics. There's much more of it in Formula One than there is in CART."