Formula 1: Burti is after Jaguar sidekick Irvine

Eddie Irvine has been warned he will have to fight to secure his Formula One future.

Jaguar Racing team-mate Luciano Burti has told the Ulsterman he intends pushing him all the way in the contest for the second seat in 2002 alongside current test driver Pedro de la Rosa.

Irvine, whose three-year contract with the team ends next year, is expected to see out his £18million deal but Burti is refusing to give up without a battle.

"It could be Eddie, it could be me - it could be another driver," said the Brazilian as he prepared to compete in his home grand prix for the first time this weekend.

"Eddie was the first in the team, he is Jaguar's number one driver and he is more experienced.

"He has more of a chance of continuing with the team next year but that does not mean that it's a certainty. The team has to judge so we will see what happens.

"The team do not expect me to beat Eddie this season, but if I do it will be very good for me.

"If I do a good job this season then I will continue with Jaguar or another team next season - if I do not do a good job then I don't deserve to stay in Formula One."

Burti's place in the team has been the subject of speculation since the start of the season, with rumours rife that he would be replaced by Spain's de la Rosa after Sunday's race.

But the 25-year-old, who made his debut in Austria last year when he deputised for an ill Irvine, was understood to have a water-tight contract for 2001, a fact he confirmed after arriving in Sao Paulo.

"I try to be as removed from the rumours as I can," added Burti, who was given another assurance about his immediate future by Jaguar boss Bobby Rahal on Wednesday.

"When the rumours started that I was going to leave, I approached Bobby and asked what was happening and the problem came to an end. Contract-wise, it is quite impossible to happen."

Rahal said: "I don't know how many times I have to say this, but our drivers are Luciano Burti and Eddie Irvine.

"As Luciano knows, we will give him 100 per cent of our effort and he will give us 100 per cent of his effort. I don't know how much clearer I need to be."

Rahal, whose team scored just for points last year, is setting his sights on challenging the Honda-powered outfits of Jordan and BAR, though he admits Jaguar still have a lot of work to do this year.

"We are around three-quarters-of-a second off British American Racing and Jordan and we need to find that to be satisfied," he said.

"We are developing the car rapidly and I think we will see an improvement in Brazil, but we need to do a much better job than we are doing at the moment."

Rahal wants to see his drivers break into the top 10 in qualifying, with Irvine having been 12th on the grid in the opening races in Australia and Malaysia.

Irvine went on to finish 11th in Melbourne but retired last time out while Burti, whose best qualifying is 15th in Kuala Lumpur, has finished eight and 10th respectively so far.