Eddie Irvine's chances of driving for Formula One team Jordan next season could be scuppered by younger British rivals.
Both Ralph Firman and Richard Lyons are among the names being considered to succeed Takuma Sato as Giancarlo Fisichella's partner with Irvine, 37, also in the frame.
Anglo-Irishman Firman, 27, won the Formula Nippon series in Japan and recently tested for the BAR team in Spain.
Lyons, 23, like Irvine, is originally from Northern Ireland and also raced in the Formula Nippon and the Japanese GT series last season.
He recently spent some time at the Jordan factory at the Silverstone circuit, central England.
Jordan's main sponsors Benson and Hedges are known to favour having a British driver on board but whether that means an experienced veteran like Irvine or an ambitious novice remains to be seen.
"While it's clear that Eddie Irvine is out there, there are a number of highly-talented young drivers about," said Mark Gallagher, Jordan's head of marketing.
"We are looking at both Ralph Firman and Richard Lyons, and there is also Anthony Davidson to include in that list.
"Experience is going to be a massive asset because of next year's qualifying rules with only one lap to play with.
"We are not ruling anything out. Jordan needs to move forward. We have a three-year deal with Ford and we need to plan for the future.
"That is only going to come from a young aggressive driver in the third Jordan pushing the other two guys.
"Then again, we want to give Giancarlo the best, and maybe a young aggressive driver pushing him in the race would be good."
Team boss Eddie Jordan said recently it might be better if Irvine, who started his career at the team before moving to Ferrari then Jaguar, 'took his wins and retired'.
But Jordan has also said that he would prefer an experienced driver alongside Fisichella.
Jordan have denied claims by Paul Stoddart, team manager of rivals Minardi, that Irvine had already signed a deal for 2003.
AFP