The big cat is finally out of the bag. After months of nods, winks, denials and no comments, Eddie Irvine yesterday made his long anticipated switch to the new Jaguar Formula One team and said it is the chance he has been longing for.

"I'm overjoyed," said the Irish driver, who joins the rebranded Stewart-Ford outfit on a three-year contract.

"This is the opportunity I've been waiting for the last two years. I'm lucky to be involved in such a fantastic project. Through my experience in the rebuilding of Ferrari, I believe I can make a significant contribution to Jaguar Racing."

Making the announcement at the Frankfurt Motor Show, Jaguar chairman Dr Wolfgang Reitzle welcomed 33-year-old Irvine to the new team saying he was "delighted to have secured the services of a dynamic driver" for the company's foray into Formula One.

"Eddie has proven with Ferrari this year that he is a winner and we are delighted to have a driver of his calibre on board," he added.

Irvine takes over at Stewart/Jaguar from Brazilian Rubens Barrichello who moved the opposite way, taking over the Irishman's number two role to Michael Schumacher at Ferrari. Irvine will now almost certainly assume number one status at Jaguar, with current Stewart driver Johnny Herbert, entering the final year of a two-year deal, confirmed as the Ulsterman's team-mate yesterday.

"There will be a number of changes next year and the experience of Eddie and Johnny will enable use to implement those changes while at the same time accelerate our rate of competitiveness," concluded Reitzle. "Eddie and Johnny will be a formidable combination."

While changes within the team structure are expected to begin immediately, Jackie Stewart, three-time world champion and current Stewart chief executive officer will remain at the helm of the new team. The 60-year Scotsman, who sold his team to engine partners Ford in June for a sum believed to be in the region of £100 million, will stay on to run Jaguar Racing for at least one more year.

His son Paul Stewart will also retain the chief operating officer position he currently holds at Stewart-Ford.

"I think Eddie has come of age," said Jackie Stewart. "He has matured during the 1999 season and has driven some exceptional races. Eddie is very adept at setting up a car and he will be a valuable asset to the team."

The Jaguar branding of his cars was also welcomed by the Stewart boss who said that it would continue a long family association with the marque.

"When Ford bought the Stewart-Ford team I had always hoped that Jaguar would become involved in the Formula One programme," he said.

"My family were Jaguar dealers in Scotland, my brother Jimmy raced for Jaguar and my earliest racing successes were with the lightweight Jaguar E-Type and several other models. I have great fondness for the company and look forward to helping Jaguar achieve its very clear ambitions in Formula One."

While Jaguar is making its first foray into Formula One, the marque has a legendary past in motor sport and the decision to enter F1 in the wake of the Ford buy out of Stewart was an obvious one according to Reitzle.

"Jaguar has a long and distinguished record in motor sport," said the Jaguar chairman. "We have won Le Mans seven times and we have twice been world sports car champions. We have also won the Monte Carlo rally as well as countless other events. The logical move was Formula One."

While Irvine will make his Jaguar debut in Melbourne next March, the Irishman still has this year's world championship battle to think about and will this week be putting his Ferrari F399 through its wayward paces at the team's Mugello test track.

Irvine regained joint control of the world drivers' title race at Monza last Sunday, thanks to an uncharacteristic slip by arch-rival Mika Hakkinen, but while the Irishman now shares the lead with the McLaren driver, Jordan's Heinz-Harald Frentzen took maximum points and is now just 10 points behind the leaders.

Irvine, however, dismissed the Jordan challenge saying that Jordan's win was simply down to the Monza circuit suiting their car.

"It will all come down to a scrap between me and Hakkinen," said the Ferrari driver. "It's going to be difficult because McLaren still have the better car. So we will have to rely on better strategy, better reliability and on them making more mistakes."

While Irvine was dismissing the chances of Frentzen, the Ferrari number one was receiving a vote of confidence from Frentzen's employer Eddie Jordan, also a former boss of the new Jaguar recruit.

"The McLarens have the speed but either the team or the driver has screwed up on too many occasions," he said.