JUNE 10, 2001

Irvine speaks out

EDDIE IRVINE hit out in all directions during an amusing appraisal of various issues on Saturday after qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix.

He said he felt Adrian Newey "is a great designer, but not such a great decision-maker", added that under-fire Juan Pablo Montoya was slow and puffed up by the opinions of the media and that he would have sacked Enrique Bernoldi if, hypothetically, he had finished seventh and David Coulthard sixth after letting him by at the Monaco Grand Prix.

He said: "I think with the Bernoldi thing the guy did a good job and if he let him through and DC was sixth and he was seventh and if I were Tom Walkinshaw I'd have sacked him.

"Suzuka three years ago they all let Michael through except for Damon and everyone said he did it for spite, but why should he let him through?

"He was being paid seven million dollars or whatever it was to get points for his team. And points make prizes. If you end up behind someone you're there because you made a mistake in this world. You should pay for your mistakes that's what competition is."

On Montoya, Irvine added: "He persistently qualifies massively behind Ralf. And he races a lot slower. So I think the press have pumped him up and he's got to keep up this image but he is lacking in certain areas.

"F1 is more about finesse than Indycars and he hasn't quite mastered that one yet. So i think Jacques got a point. He was a bit wild when he came from Indycars so there's two ways of looking at it."