Tuesday March 7th, 2000

Last year's Australian Grand Prix winner Eddie Irvine says he wants merely to finish the season-opening Formula One race on Sunday after moving from Ferrari to Jaguar.

The Northern Irishman finished second to Finland's Mika Hakkinen in the 1999 championship after a surprise first career win at Melbourne's Albert Park circuit.

But Irvine said on Tuesday he did not expect to repeat the feat when he lines up on the grid on Sunday, admitting he was not sure whether his Jaguar would last the distance.

"What are our chances? I really don't know," Irvine told a news conference in Sydney.

"We haven't done a race distance yet. Until you've done one, or done a few, you can't be sure you're going to finish. We just want to go there and really learn to understand the car."

Irvine's team mate is Briton Johnny Herbert, who gave the Stewart team their first and only win in 1999 before they were renamed Jaguar.

Team boss Jackie Stewart said he expected Jaguar to be competitive on Sunday although he did not think they would be a match for Ferrari and McLaren for some time yet.