After almost two years of barely rewarded coaxing and cajoling, Eddie Irvine finally forced a convincing roar from Jaguar yesterday as he claimed third place behind the twin Ferraris of winner Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello. At Formula One's showpiece event, he presented his struggling team with their first points of the year and their maiden podium finish.
Armed with an R2 dripping with aerodynamic modifications, Irvine launched himself from the platform of his superbly won sixth place on the grid to his third appearance on the Monaco podium in four years, as Michael Schumacher extended his championship lead over David Coulthard to 12 points after the McLaren driver suffered yet another launch control failure on the grid.
"It's fantastic being back on the podium, especially here in Monaco," said Irvine. "To have two Ferraris and a Jaguar on the podium in Monaco is really what Formula one is about in a way. We've been quick here all weekend and let's hope we can continue in Canada."
Irvine's race to third was predicated on that sudden injection of speed, a boost he put down to the heavily modified aerodynamic package. "It's a huge step. I was four years at Ferrari and I've never seen a gain half as big as the one we made this weekend," he added.
Canada in two weeks' time cannot come soon enough for Jordan as both their drivers exited the race from promising positions. Trulli was the best placed of the pair, racing in fifth and closing on the then fourth-placed Irvine. But on lap 31, the Italian's car suddenly burst into flames as he entered Rascasse and was forced to pull over.
"After a good start and a trouble free first part of the race, I was struggling over five or so laps with the rear of the car," he said. "The next thing I knew I was stopped at Rascasse with flames coming out the back. I'm not sure what the cause was but it seems to have been a hydraulic problem, with the car losing pressure over those laps, which explains why the handling became difficult."
With Trulli out, Jordan hopes focused back towards Frentzen, who suddenly inherited eighth. The German, who had a quiet first 30 laps suddenly upped his performance dramatically, arrowing towards Jean Alesi's Prost. He halved a substantial gap and was within striking distance of the Prost driver when suddenly the Jordan disappeared in a haze of smoke and debris at the exit of the tunnel.
"From the apex of the tunnel I got some understeer and then the car inexplicably steered to the left, hitting the Armco on the exit and sliding right down to the chicane. The impact was quite hard and I hit my head. And that was it," said the bruised and battered German.
