rpm.espn.com: Eddie Irvine

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Tuesday, January 14
Updated: January 21, 2:55 PM ET

Eddie Irvine
By Dan Knutson
ESPN.com

Team: Jaguar (2002)
Nationality: British

Eddie Irvine
Irvine

STATS

Year
Rank
Wins
Poles
Podium
Best finish

2002 9 0 0 1 3rd, Italy

Career 4 0 22 1st, 4 times

2002 Recap
The Good: There wasn't a lot of good in this frustrating season for Irvine and Jaguar. One of the few good things was the powerful Ford Cosworth V10 (said to be the third best engine in the field) that helped power Irvine to a third-place effort in Italy. He also scored a lucky fourth in Australia by avoiding the big wreck in Turn 1 and getting his car home to the finish.

Season Highlight: Third place in Italy. Irvine was the only driver other than the six guys on the top three teams to make it onto the podium all season.

The Bad: The car. The Jaguar R3 was born badly (it was slower than the 2001 R2) and it took most of the season, during which virtually every part on the car was changed or modified, to get the car back to where it should have been at the start of the year. There seemed to be a revolving door at Jaguar as several of the senior technical staff left early in the season, and by the end of the year, Irvine, teammate Pedro de la Rosa and team boss Niki Lauda had all been given their walking papers.

Season Lowlight: Pretty much the whole season was a lowlight, but one of the biggest disappointments came in Monaco where Irvine expected to do well but ended up a distant ninth.

Eddie Irvine
Eddie Irvine is still searching for a job for 2003.

Key Stat: Third place in the Italian Grand Prix.

2003 Outlook
What needs to be done: Irvine needs to find a ride, and his only hope is the remaining seat at Jordan. As for his former team, Jaguar needs to get some stability and build a chassis capable of complementing all the power of the Cosworth V10.

Prediction: Unless he gets the Jordan job, Irvine will sit at home counting all the millions he's earned during his F1 career. He has no interest in competing in CART or the IRL.

Your Take
Here are your thoughts on Irvine's prospects for the 2003 season.

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