Lucrative deal `just rumour'

Ford, owners of the Stewart Grand Prix team, yesterday refused to confirm that Eddie Irvine had signed for the team for the 2000 season.

According to reports in the British magazine Autosport, the Irishman had signed a £6 million a year deal to drive for the Stewart team which would be re-badged under Ford's Jaguar brand next year.

However, a Ford spokesperson yesterday declined to confirm that Irvine would be leaving Ferrari for Stewart saying that "a number of possibilities are still being explored".

"The team is talking to a number of drivers and there are a number of options still being discussed," said the spokesperson. "So far there has been no decision."

The motor manufacturing giants also insisted that no decision had been taken on the rebranding of Stewart as Jaguar for next season.

"This is a rumour that has been doing the rounds for quite some time and once again the answer is: no decision has yet been taken."

A spokesman for Irvine also confirmed that no decision had been taken by the driver, saying it was "still far too early for a decision".

Irvine has been linked with a move to Stewart since the British Grand Prix when rumours of a swap involving current Stewart driver Rubens Barrichello surfaced. Speculation about such a move was heightened last weekend when pitlane rumour suggested that Barrichello had signed a letter of intent to race for Ferrari next year, leaving the way open for Irvine to move in the other direction.

Barrichello's situation also remains unclear, with Ford also insisting that no decision on the Brazilian's future had been made.

The move to Stewart would appear to be the most beneficial on offer to Irvine as his tenure at Ferrari begins to look less and less secure, despite two wins as standin number one and an eight-point lead over Mika Hakkinen in the drivers' championship.

Irvine currently earns in the region of £3 million a year for his services at Ferrari and the doubling of his wage packet, plus the added bonus of driving for a team badged with a similarly-prestigious Jaguar logo would more than make up for the loss of glamour a move away from Maranello would involve. Other reasons why the move might seem attractive include the recent £100 million buy-out of Stewart Grand Prix by Ford and the consequent influx of cash, and the relentless motivation and guaranteed number one status with an ambitious outfit.

Stewart are believed to have a shortlist of drivers it wants to spearhead its thrust for a first title since Michael Schumacher drove his Ford-powered Benetton to the drivers' title in 1994. Until recently that list included Mika Hakkinen, Heinz-Harald Frentzen and David Coulthard. However, with all three recently re-signed by their current employers for the 2000 season, Irvine now appears to be Stewart's final hope.

If Ferrari and Schumacher can no longer live with Irvine's vocal demands for equal status and the switch to Stewart falls by the wayside, a move to Jordan still remains an remote option for the Irishman. However, even that faint ray of light is beginning to grow dim as further rumours suggest Jordan are on the verge of signing Prost driver Jarno Trulli.

Jordan have apparently been impressed by Trulli's performances for Alain Prost's team and are expected to sign the 25-year-old Italian next week. Trulli is contracted to drive for Prost in 2000 but is likely to avail of a getout clause in his contract which frees him if the French team are not in the top six in the constructors' championship by the end of next week's Hungarian Grand Prix.

Prost are currently eighth in the constructors' table and would need to score nine points at the Budapest race to move into sixth place, providing that neither Stewart driver scores.