Toyota Driver Decision 'Bizarre', Says Irvine

Toyota's decision to ditch drivers Mika Salo and Allan McNish is "bizarre" but good news for the rest of Formula One, according to Jaguar's Eddie Irvine.

Toyota announced on Wednesday that the Finn and Scot would be leaving at the end of the season, with French veteran Olivier Panis and another as yet unsigned driver joining in 2003. The news surprised Grand Prix regulars who had expected Toyota to retain one and possibly both drivers for the sake of stability after the team's promising debut season.

"That's what makes the Toyota thing quite bizarre, to sack both the drivers. It's like, let's try and find a silver bullet here," said Irvine after practice at the Belgian Grand Prix today.

"They (Toyota) are three seconds off the pace and they are blaming their drivers. Both of them are very capable. It's bizarre but it's great for everyone else in Formula One," he added, suggesting that Toyota would be less competitive as a result.

Panis has been a test driver for McLaren, as well as racing for British American Racing since the start of 2001, but he is 36 on Monday and older than both Finland's Salo and Briton McNish.

"If they think Panis is a megastar they are going to have their eyes opened up pretty soon," commented Irvine, himself already 36 and the oldest driver on the starting grid.

Old and Young

Toyota's move, coupled with Sauber's decision to replace young Brazilian rookie Felipe Massa with 34-year-old Heinz-Harald Frentzen, has led to suggestions that the tide is turning against youth in favour of experience.

Irvine believed Toyota were the odd ones out but agreed that the value of a safe pair of hands who will not leave the car requiring costly repairs on a regular basis may have increased.

"You've got to say Massa has made a lot of mistakes, Frentzen is a proven product and Massa is a little bit shaky," he said. "When you're at a team like Sauber, if there's points available you need to be there to get them. You cannot afford to screw up in races where you could have possibly got two points."

Regarding his own future, Irvine said that he knew what he wanted to do next season but would not reveal what that might be. He smilingly dismissed a suggestion that he had already agreed a multi-year deal with Ford and said he had not spoken to team boss Eddie Jordan about next year either.

The Jordan future of Japan's Takuma Sato, another young rookie who has had plenty of crashes this season, had been called into question after the team announced they were switching from Honda engines to Ford in a three-year deal.

Irvine evaded questions about whether he expected to be staying in Formula One but said he still enjoyed racing.

"The last race, I was having a blast. There was only the two Ferraris, the McLarens, Ralf (Schumacher) and me (lapping) in the 1.18s," he said.