Eddie Irvine declared himself fitter and hungrier for success than ever as Jaguar unveiled their new R3 Formula One car today.
"I've been doing some training and had very good results," the Ulster driver said after uncovering the gleaming green machine that Jaguar hope will bring significant improvements on a disappointing 2001.
"I'm getting fitter as I get older," grinned Irvine, championship runner-up with Ferrari in 1999 and now the oldest driver on the grid at 36 following the retirement of France's Jean Alesi. "It's a bit strange but I'm lucky.
"I did a fitness exam a couple of weeks ago and it was one of the highest scores ever measured by a Formula One driver, which is shocking.
"This is the first proper Jaguar," added Irvine in a rare burst of enthusiasm after sounding distinctly downbeat on the stage erected at the team's factory to show off the third challenger since their debut in 2000.
"We'll wait and see," he said. "It's easy to say it's going to be the classiest and you come to the first race and you're 20th on the grid and you look like a plonker".
Irvine's contract with Jaguar runs out at the end of 2002 but he dismissed suggestions that it might be his last year in Formula One.
"The end of my current contract with Jaguar does not stipulate that I must leave Formula One," he said. "I must check the contract and see if that's what it says. If I do the job, I stay. If I don't do the job I go. That's normal, it's sport".