Starting to feel good about Jaguar!

[enemy-ace]

For as long as i can remember I have been a fan of Jaguar cars in general, and when they joined the F1 grid I was quite happy. But then they hired Irvine as their lead driver and Lauda as their team principle and I must say I was none too happy. And after suffering through some miserable opening seasons I was finding it difficult to get behind this team. They were more a comedy of errors than a professional racing team. This year however I am starting to feel good about this team. They appear to be putting their focus into the right areas and developing a good solid base and not just looking for the magic key to reverse their fortunes. Now I know this weekend (Malaysian GP)has been a poor one for them, but you will have those when your working towards your goal.
What has brought on this good feeling, you ask? The following quote from their lead driver, particularly the last line. I like this guy, a real pro and a definite plus to the team. Probably the one good thing Lauda ever did for the team.

Mark Webber - Jaguar Racing: "The Michelin tyre worked very well today and we could have got points from this race today – even after the delay in the pit-lane after my first pit stop. That probably cost me around 30 seconds but once back out, the performance of the car shone through, albeit until lap 35 when we had no choice but to call it a day. The potential of this car is clear and we must remain calm, get our heads down and get on with the task of tapping into the car's true capability.”

I'm starting to feel a bit better about being a Jaguar fan again.

[Adam43]

I am a Jaguar fan too, but it is nothing to do with that F1 team. IMO Jaguar should not even be competing in F1. They are in it for all the wrong reasons and to cap it all off are not even any good at it.

I can't see them achieving too much apart from some jammy points (for positions that now go down to 8th).

[Vw gti 16v]

yeah the r4 is a real big improvement and they also got good and upcoming drivers

[Webslinger]

Sad but true Adam. How they could mess up what Stewart started remains a mystery.

[MichaelH]

When they joined up in 2000 I was delighted...here were a British racing team in a beautiful green with Irvine and Herbert and a chance to win races.....since then I haven't had any interest whatsoever. But yeah the rookie drivers and new potential in 2003 are turning me....

[marcus]

Im a Webber fan and Im not that happy at the moment , the new car is definately a better car but their good old reliability problem i think is still there , come on jag ya got good speed now just make the ting last to make this Webber fan smile.

[Valve Bounce]

The engine needs more testing, and since Jaguar is on the friday extended testing option, they really need to sort out that fuel pick-up problem for good in the lab. The potential is there, but they obviously have not sorted out all the problems.

[True Believer]

The stupid rule regarding running the race as you finished the qualifying session is dangerous.

The Jag mob had the opportunity to change the motor in Malaysia, and the driveshafts in Australia....

What happens if a car hits the fence in the 2nd qualifying, does that mean the team cant rebuild it... or is that only if the bits end up in Parc Ferme?

Webber is a good driver, a heady driver, surrounded by a bunch of 98%-ers

[f1manoz]

Once the car is reliable, Webber should be able to score some regular points.

[Sato san]

In a interveiew with Jackie Stewart on Saturday from Malaysia he sounded like he was trying to distance himself from the team......and he even said that Jag wont be even able to fight with the Mclarens etc for many more years to come becuase of massive under investment over the last few years by Ford and the Jaguar board ( which Jackie sits on ).

[Peter Mallett]

Originally posted by AdamAshmore
I am a Jaguar fan too, but it is nothing to do with that F1 team. IMO Jaguar should not even be competing in F1. They are in it for all the wrong reasons and to cap it all off are not even any good at it.

I can't see them achieving too much apart from some jammy points (for positions that now go down to 8th).

I agree.

Jaguar should be in sports cars but then again so should Ford and Aston Martin. Hmm tricky.

I think they came in because Bernie has convinced the world that F1 is not teams but manufacturers. That is because Ferrari fit that bill. In fact Ferrari and Jaguar are arguably the only ones that do meet that criteria.

[alfasud]

Jaguar (F1) hardly meet the criteria as manufactures. They are Stewart-Fords painted green and branded as Jaguars and then totally mismanaged.

Remember the days when Jags had V12's and Aston Martins had V8's? Well now Ford are in control, the Jags (road cars) have the V8's (based on Ford V8's) and the Astons have the V12..... where is the logic in that?

Jaguar should be in sports cars... but Lister have filled that space.

Let's be honest here.... Weber is a good young driver.... maybe not the next Senna (or whatever his fans think he is), but a good young driver all the same. He's probably wasting his time in Jaguar, but you never know, he could get lucky one day (like Eddie did at Monza last year).

[Cobra]

Jag will get the reliability problem sorted out, I just hope that it is soon enough in the season to give them a lift and not push the money men into making any large decisions regarding their future.
Ouch doesn't bear thinking about...