Jaguar dump Irvine & de la Rosa (merged)

[neilap]

http://uk.sports.yahoo.com/021101/65/ddmgb.html

Another dumb decision by a team trying to make it up the grid. The man may talk too much but he also races well. Now I can talk badly about Jag and Renault!! Neither of these drivers are in his class. Maybe they will have a good car next year but the drivers will be questionable.

This also leads to another point. Where will he go and if Sato loses his seat where will he go??

Ahh the plot thickens. Here I was thinking the off-season would be boring.

[Raven]

He's raced well maybe 4 or 5 times over the past two seasons. Here's to Pizzonia!

[alfaman]

So Jaguar has finally seen sense and had a clear out of its drivers.

For 2003 it's hiring fresh young talent - Mark Webber from Minardi (no secret there) and Antonio Pizzonia (that will please Frank!!).

Already Eddie has been mouthing off about the choice and claims that Jaguar is slashing its throat by signing 2 "inexperienced" drivers.

I hope that Eddie Jordan doesn't throw Irvine a lifeline he should stick with young talent as well.

And as for de la Rosa may be there was a warning at Indianapolis....that he was going to get ditched!!

I think Jaguar has made the right move - and it does save them a few million pounds in salaries.

Should Irvine turn his back on F1 or do you think he still deserves a seat somewhere??

And what about de la Rosa is he finished with Grand Prix??

[f1manoz]

Although I would love to believe it, could we have a source alfaman?

[Inigo Montoya]

Fantastic news! Webber and Pizzonia!! Fan-Tas-Tic! Lets hope they build a nice car next year...

[ozrevhead]

from sportal.com.au

Irvine out, Webber in at Jaguar

The Jaguar Formula One team has released both its 2002 drivers, Eddie Irvine and Pedro de la Rosa, and will replace them with Australia's Mark Webber and Brazilian Antonio Pizzonia, according to British tabloid the Sun.
Jaguar has so far refused to comment on the reports.

Irvine, whose contract with Jaguar expires at the end of the year, was expected to stay on after a number of impressive performances, including a podium finish in Italy, towards the end of the season.

De la Rosa still had one year left on his contract at Jaguar.

Pizzonia is currently the Williams test driver.

Webber has long been linked with a closed-season move from Minardi to Jaguar after his stunning debut season with the struggling F1 team.

[alfaman]

Thanks ozrevhead for your source.

Mine is from the Press Association in London heavily quoting The Sun newspaper.

[Valve Bounce]

Originally posted by alfaman

Should Irvine turn his back on F1 or do you think he still deserves a seat somewhere??

Yeah!! Next to Martin Brundle; wouldn't that be a hoot!! We'd all watch ITV and enjoy the commentary for a change. All except Rennen of course - he has digital

[Sato san]

nothing on autosport about this ....they are just saying Pizzonia is close to a Jag deal....but weve all known that already .

from autosport ---Sources close to Jaguar say the team has its heart set on pairing Antonio Pizzonia with Mark Webber next year.

I pray EJ see's sense and holds out for more money from Japan to secure Taku's drive next year rather than putting Irvine in the car as he will just be there for his enjoyment.

[Gt_R]

Although i understand some member's enthusiasm for Webber and Pizzonia, i have a little reservation about this.

As already mentioned, it is strange how an international big name decide to settle for 2 relatively unproven and inexperienced drivers. It's a laughing stock that they could not afford/attract proven big names to their teams, with certain levels of mix of experience and youth and potential.

Of course, the 2 drivers mentioned are drivers of huge promise. It may be a risk well taken. But what are the odds that they would pull everything off? Especially when the fundamentals of Jaguar problem lies in the car?

With a new qualifying system, the 2 drivers, especially Pizzonia, is at a disadvantage. With their technical feedbacks and know-hows, they are limited when compared to drivers such as Panis and GF. It would be hard for them to even get themselves into the top 6 teams.

[silvervsix]

Mark will do a good job not sure about Antonio but time will tell, I would have thought that Antonio would be best to test for a year with the team and then race the following year.

[silvervsix]

Webber will do well not sure about Antonio but bye bye Eddie

[Amaroo Park]

Just ran with this story on channel nine news. Webber in at Jaguar. As Chris Handy would say GO YOU GOOD THING

[Alan Jones]

Excellent news

[Alan Jones]

Webber rocks, go you good thing. As mentioned in another thread, I hope Eddie commentates.

[Wrex]

Smartest thing Jaguar has done in a long time.

Irvine was a blow-hard has-been wind-bag that puts in the odd 'performance' in when he feels like it, and Pedro seems to be past his useby date as well.

It is risky going for two young drivers, but seriously, what have the got to lose. They've been the butt of F1's jokes since they took over Stewart. Now if they fail, they can blame the drivers.

.....again.

[greg.n]

Pizzonia has lots of experience in testing for Frank and he was faster than de la Rosa when he tested for jaguar, just as Mark was faster than Fisichella when he first tested at Renault. Pizzonia will struggle with qualifying (maybe) at the start of the season but adrenalin and enthusiasm counts for a lot. pizzonia cant do a lot worse than de la Rosa did at the last four or five rounds (with one exception)- you can't get much lower than 17th and 18th on the grid.

[Minardi fan]

Oh well... bye bye Webber... but let's face it, a move to Jaguar is hardly anything great is it? Hopefully he won't get stuck there like DLR did, because it would be a waste of his immense talent.

[Gt_R]

Anyway, i must stress that replacing Pedro de la Rosa is a good decision indeed!

But unless they really work on the cars next year and provide the 2 rookies a guiding hand in how to set cars and develop, otherwise the whole operation would just sink again.

[kdr]

didn't irvine retire in 1999?

[av8rirl]

Good for EJ. Bad for Jag.

IMO its not really a great move. Aren't Jag changing the engine drastically to a wider V angle? They'll also be competing for honours with Jordan (when this year even Arrows could beat them with the same engine). I think we can expect Jag to be gone after 2003 with Ford doing a complete works deal with EJ. So maybe EI will end up back in a works Ford.

[Rick]

Best move since Jag took over Stewart. Webber has proven to be an excellant test/development driver over the last 5 years so they won't lose anything with him replacing Irvine and Pizzonia for DLR is an improvement as well.

[Rick]

BTW - I just read the article on The Sun online - anyone would think Irvine wrote the article himself! Single handedly dragging Jaguar up the order - Well done Eddie!
Top newspaper!(where's the smiley for dripping sarcasm)

[DNQ]

Jaguar Press Release

JAGUAR RACING ANNOUNCES 2003 DRIVER LINE-UP.

1st November 2002 – Milton Keynes


Jaguar Racing today announced that Brazilian Antonio Pizzonia (22) and Australian Mark Webber (26) have
signed to compete for the team in the 2003 FIA Formula One World Championship. Mark and Antonio
replace Eddie Irvine (36) and Pedro de la Rosa (31). These changes are with immediate effect.

“I am thrilled to be welcoming Antonio and Mark to Jaguar Racing for what promises to be an exciting and
new partnership in Formula One,” said Jaguar Racing CEO and Team Principal Niki Lauda. “In Antonio, or
‘Jungle Boy’ as he has been nicknamed, we have a very gifted raw racer who will undoubtedly inject a new
lease of life into Formula One. His speed and racing instinct are what attracted us to him and I have little
doubt in his ability to shake-up the establishment in a big way. Mark, on the other hand, has solid F1
experience and now’s his chance to prove exactly what he’s capable of. We have two very different
characters and I have every intention of revving them up in an effort to extract the maximum from them.
Team orders is not something we play by at Jaguar and if anything, these two drivers will be under strict
instructions to go out and fight each other on the race track – as well as everyone else, of course! We are
red-blooded racers at Jaguar and from what I have seen of Antonio and Mark, I am confident of seeing a
very competitive dual next season.”

After three seasons with the team, Eddie Irvine (36) makes way for the new driver line-up and his valuable
contribution to the development and growth of Jaguar Racing is summed up by Niki: “I cannot thank Eddie
enough for his hard-work and commitment during the last three seasons. He has been with us right from day
one and while there have been some difficult and challenging periods to endure, Eddie’s resilience and focus
remained throughout. His experience, speed and race craft are exemplary and the decision to replace him in
no way reflects upon his clear ability as a competitive racer.”

Pedro de la Rosa joined Jaguar Racing in April 2001 and made his debut for the team at his home race in
Spain. “Pedro has unfortunately struggled with some aspects of the programme and in simple terms, it hasn’t
really worked out for either party. It’s unfortunate, yes, but that’s Formula One. We wanted to adopt a fresh
approach for next year and our strategy is firmly geared towards making progress at all levels of the
business.”

Mark and Antonio first tested the Jaguar R3 in Barcelona earlier this year during an evaluation exercise
aimed at exploring the team’s options for the 2003 season. At the time, Mark Webber was contesting the
season with the KL Minardi Asiatech Formula One team while Antonio has spent the 2002 season contesting
the FIA F3000 Championship. In addition, Antonio has spent the season as BMW WilliamsF1 Team test
driver alongside Ralf Schumacher, Juan Pablo Montoya and Marc Gene.

Speaking from the States where he is preparing to contest this weekend’s New York Marathon, Antonio said:
“After having spent a year testing solidly for BMW WilliamsF1, the logical next step was to secure a race
drive for 2003 and to have been given that opportunity by Niki Lauda is simply fantastic. Jaguar Racing has
made considerable progress in recent months and combined with the solid work being undertaken right now,
I am very excited about racing for Jaguar next season. My testing role with BMW WilliamsF1 this season has
generated over 14,000kms of mileage and my aim now is to focus this experience towards helping Jaguar
achieve its goals next season.”

“I'm truly excited about racing for Jaguar next season,” said Mark. “It is one of the most emotive and
successful names in motor racing and one that has a wealth of motorsport heritage. As the latest recruit to


join what is a distinguished line-up of Jaguar drivers from the past, I realise my role will be very important in
helping the team succeed. It is a phenomenally competitive time in Formula One right now and given the
intense development programme Jaguar has in place, it is critical that Antonio and I help accelerate the
team’s progress over winter so as to be ready for what promises to be a very exciting season given the
revised format of the race weekend. Having tested with the team at Barcelona earlier this year and from
visiting the Jaguar Racing factory, I know there are a lot of good people involved with the team and we all
know what we have to deliver next season.”

Antonio and Mark will begin testing duties with Jaguar Racing after the winter test ban is lifted from 26th
November onwards.

[Wrex]

Thank god It's finally Official!

Congratulations to Mark and Antonio, I really hope the Jag is up to the job of getting the most from these two drivers.