Jaguar to Burn Bright?
Comment on the big cat
by Michael Bass
Is Eddie Irvine's decision to move to the new team Jaguar an advantage to his career?
Cool Eddie raced his last race as Michael Schumacher's team-mate in the title decider race at Suzuka last week with a chance of the championship, but Irvine's rival Hakkinen won the race, taking the championship at the same time.
Irvine, who has been MS' loyal number two at Ferrari since 1996, has decided to swap seats with Brazilian Rubens Barrichello. He's coming off a great year, after battling for the championship thanks to Schumacher's absence from a broken leg. Although it ended in disappointment, it was a clear indicator of the potential at Ferrari.
You've got to ask, will Eddie's decision to move to Jaguar ruin his chances of fighting for the 2000 world championship with the likes of Hakkinen and Schumacher?
The new Jaguar team, launched last month in Germany, is said to use Stewart-Ford's aerodynamics, and the plan is to keep all the existing team members. This leads to question marks over the reliability of the new Jaguar - will it be as good as last year's Stewart?
Many Irvine fans would agree, it would be great to see Jaguar become a contender for the championship alongside the top teams. It would also be great for Eddie to prove that he can race for himself and for him to prove the full potential of being able to race ahead of the rest.
Eddie claims to be overjoyed with a three-year Jaguar contract, and is hoping that he and team-mate Johnny Herbert can lead Jaguar home, to score many constructors points. Whilst many doubt either driver's skills, there are plenty of pundits who think they might just have something... and they could be in the big-time - which would do Ford, and Jackie Stewart, proud.
Article is written by and copyright (c) 1999 Michael Bass.
Michael is a reliable, kind and generous chap, who enjoys school to a reasonable extent. He is working hard to gain A-levels and start a career as a newspaper journalist. His hobbies include Formula One, photography, writing and bike riding, to name a few.
Views expressed in these articles do not necessarily coincide with the views of the F1 Rumors Team.
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