Salo plays role well

Eddie Irvine yesterday pledged to hand his winners' trophy from the German Grand Prix to temporary team-mate Mika Salo, after saying the Finn, who completed a Ferrari one-two, was a "boy wonder".

Irvine was handed the race lead by Salo after Mika Hakkinen crashed out to let Irvine cruise on to his second grand prix victory in eight days. It was a mirror image of the role Irvine has played for Michael Schumacher for so long. And once Irvine was past, Salo fulfilled the faithful sidekick's role to perfection, riding shotgun expertly to keep Jordan's Heinz-Harald Frenzten at bay in third.

"Mika was the star today," Irvine admitted. "He's getting the trophy. I don't think I could bear to look at it on my mantelpiece. It was his race."

Salo was not displeased with the result saying that he had no complaints about playing second fiddle. "We had discussed it before the race, what we would do if the situation arose, and I had no problem. Although later on when Eddie was going slowly I thought about it. Heinz was closing in on me and Eddie was just cruising around. I had to get on the radio and get them to tell him to go quick.

"I'm really happy, though. It's my best ever result in F1 and in the best car I've ever had."

Irvine hasn't led the world championship since before the San Marino Grand Prix in May, a lead which was rapidly overhauled by Michael Schumacher when the German won in Italy.

Yesterday's victory, however, now puts Irvine in command of the drivers' championship, eight points clear of McLaren's Mika Hakkinen and a full 19 clear of Heinz-Harald Frentzen who yesterday overhauled Michael Schumacher for third place in the championship, scoring his fourth podium finish of the year. Irvine, though, insists he is not considering the driver's title as a possibility.

"It's taken me half the season to lead the championship again, but to be honest, I'm not thinking about it all," he said.

"Seriously. It's like when you're a boy and you think you'd like to go to the moon but you know you can't. Well I never even thought about it. I'm too much of a realist. But now that Mika's fully on the pace, we can start thinking about the constructors' championship, which we weren't sure about before."

If Irvine was unsure of his potential and progress, there was no holding back his former boss. An ecstatic Eddie Jordan had been the first to congratulate Ferrari sporting director Jean Todt, but he reserved his highest praise for Irvine.

"It's an unbelievable day for Irish motorsport and particularly Irvine," Jordan said.

"What can you say? People say he only qualified fifth for the race but you must never underestimate this man. He always comes back to save the day.