Webber goes for points

Webber is alone among the Ford Cosworth users to have an upgraded engine in the USA, although the Australian said it was only making "a small difference".

Jaguar Racing team principal Tony Purnell explained: "We are trying the upgrade out with Mark. We have just built one engine and we will see how it goes. It is always a risk when you try an engine for the first time."

Purnell was candid about Jaguar's recent misfortunes after a promising start to the year.

"We're thoroughly disappointed with the season," he admitted. "We started with a very nice quick car and we've been let down by a lot of small mistakes. We have a limited resource and we put the effort into what we thought was important and I think we've been quite successful there.

"Everything the technical department does is an improvement but we have to be very prudent with our money. To produce something that can even touch the McLarens, who are undoubtedly operating on twice the money we have, I think is outstanding. So, I'm actually quite proud of what everyone has done over the past 18 months for Jaguar. But in F1 you've got to be good at everything, you can't make mistakes anywhere. It's a no prisoners game."

Purnell denied that he has come under any pressure from Ford, Jaguar's parent company, over the team's 2004 results.

"They were impressed in Malaysia [where Webber qualified second] I have to say, but we need to pull something out of the bag to give everybody in the team a lift and, for sure, that is what we are trying to do. This would be a nice weekend to do it."

The USA is, of course, Jaguar's largest market.