After talking the talk, Eddie Irvine proved he was more than capable of walking the walk as he won yesterday's Austrian Grand Prix with a relentless display of dogged determination and fighting spirit. With McLaren's David Coulthard harrying and nipping at his heels like a belligerent terrier, and with his tyres and brakes going away from him, Irvine won a titanic 27-lap struggle to stay ahead of the Scot and, arms pumping the air in delight, crossed the finish line at the A1 Ring in Spielberg with just three-tenths of a second to spare over the McLaren. The victory represents a massive vindication for Irvine, who until yesterday appeared to be buckling under the pressure of being handed responsibility for Ferrari's stumbling championship challenge.

On Saturday, after qualifying third, but a second down on the McLarens, Irvine had borne the look of a man carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. Missing his characteristic jocularity and wit, he sighed his way through interviews saying he had to look deep into himself to discover the resources necessary to overcome the combined might of Mika, Mercedes and McLaren.

Yesterday, he undoubtedly found a previously hidden well of resistance to see off the challenge of Coulthard - who had as early as the first lap proved an unwilling and unfortunate quisling, sabotaging his own team's best chance of victory when he shunted team-mate Mika Hakkinen onto the grass as the field battled through the Remus turn. Irvine's most potent ally came in the shape of Ferrari's bespectacled strategist, Ross Brawn. Telling Irvine to conserve fuel and brakes, Brawn left the Ferrari driver out on the circuit until the 44th lap of the 71-lap race. While initially the strategy appeared to backfire as Irvine struggled to keep pace with a flying Coulthard and Rubens Barrichello, who had edged his Stewart ahead of the Ferrari when Hakkinen was pushed onto the grass.

However, when the Brazilian pitted, Brawn issued the order to push and Irvine, with almost Schumacher-like venom, began to reel off a series of red-hot laps that opened enough space to allow him to make his own stop and exit ahead of Coulthard. With 27 laps left and less than two seconds separating Irvine from Coulthard, the erstwhile Ferrari number one again seemed possessed by some of the battling qualities of his injured team leader and held the snapping McLaren at bay to take the chequered flag. The 10 points moves Irvine to within two points of drivers' championship leader Hakkinen and also preserves Ferraris two-point margin over McLaren in the constructors' standings.

Irvine's win in Spielberg will undoubtedly silence the doubters, at least temporarily. With the F1 circus moving straight on to Hockenheim for next Sunday's German Grand Prix, the Ulsterman will soon be under the microscope again. On a circuit which usually rewards raw power over finesse and organisational flair, the questions over Irvine's real chances of securing the championship for himself and Ferrari will raise their ugly head again.

Indeed, despite admitting to being hopeful of a good result in Germany, Irvine, was for once pragmatic about the long term.

"My chances are no better than they were before the race (in Austria). There is a long way to go, there are still seven races left."

Seven races. Only the foolhardy would doubt that the silvery spectres of the twin McLarens will rise again to haunt Irvine's dreams of glory.