Formula 1: De La Rosa promises Irvine battle

Eddie Irvine has been told to expect a battle for team supremacy from new Jaguar Racing partner Pedro de la Rosa this weekend.

The Spaniard will make his debut in his home race in Barcelona after taking the place of Brazil’s Luciano Burti who has switched to Prost.

The 30-year-old is determined to make an instant impact, having impressed Jaguar with his performances in testing, and that means getting the better of team leader Irvine.

"One thing is for sure Eddie is certainly a different character," said de la Rosa, who took over from Burti last Thursday.

"I’ve spent a few days testing with him and he’s very different from your average F1 driver. But I’ve never had a problem with my team-mate and Eddie’s no different.

"Before I try beating anybody this weekend I must compete with Eddie. As somebody with the same equipment as me, he is the benchmark that I must use before anybody else on the race track.

"But we must work well together and not against each other. We share the mutual goal of taking this team forward and I haven’t seen anything from Eddie that worries me in this respect.

"He applies himself well and is an experienced and capable driver."

De la Rosa, unexpectedly released by Arrows after two seasons last year, comes into a team still looking to score their first points as they head into the fifth round of the 17-race season.

The Milton Keynes-based outfit have again struggled to make an impact on the grid with Irvine having produced their best qualifying display so far of 12th in the opening two races.

"I can’t believe that my debut race for Jaguar Racing coincides with my home grand prix," said de la Rosa, who came in as test driver on the promise of a drive in 2002.

"People assume that because I’m from Barcelona, I know the track better than anybody. I wish this were true.

"I just hope people don’t expect anything from me. I just want to finish this weekend knowing I did the best possible job for both Jaguar Racing and myself.

"This team is currently in transition and it will take time before we are challenging the front-runners.

"Our aim this season is to be competitive and use this as a baseline for developing next year’s car.

"Expectations will always be high in circumstances like this, but my debut for Jaguar Racing must be taken in the context of the team’s capabilities at this stage of our development."

Irvine believes the arrival of a new team-mate this weekend will not affect Jaguar Racing’s performance.

‘‘I was sorry to see Luciano go because he brought a lot to the team,’’ said Irvine, hoping to break his points duck on the Circuit de Catalunya. ‘‘But I can understand his reasons for going.

‘‘Usually changing team-mates in the middle of the season is not a good idea and can destabilise things.

‘‘But in our case Pedro has been with us for a while already and understands the task at hand, so everything should go smoothly on that front.’’