Jaguar to oust Irvine for Button?

The rumour mill in Canada was working overtime by the time the pit-lane opened for first free practice, with the future of Jaguar driver Eddie Irvine at the top of most people's subject list.

The Irishman, frustrated by the lack of performance from this year's R3, is reputed to be on his way out of the team he said he wanted to take to the title, in favour of fellow Briton Jenson Button.

According to various sources in the Montreal paddock, Button is the man that Jaguar wants to partner Pedro de la Rosa in 2003, with the Spaniard apparently having signed a three-year extension to his deal despite a string of poor results in recent races. To make matters worse for Irvine, however, the rumour mill also suggests that the Ford-backed team would be willing to pay Button over and above what it is currently employing him for.

Irvine was saying little on the matter when he arrived for this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix, but Britain's Sun newspaper confirmed that he was due to sit down with Jaguar boss Niki Lauda at the British round next month.

Interestingly, Irvine has been linked to a possible return to Jordan, the team where he began he F1 career and which is rumoured to want a British driver for 2003. Although he would probably have to take a pay cut to join the Silverstone team - which made staff redundant prior to the Spanish GP - he still has close links there and admits that money is no longer his motivation.

"I want to have the best car I can have," he said, "That's all that interests me really - money's not the issue. I just want to have the most competitive car I can get. I don't need the money - I've made plenty in and out of Formula One. Results are what's serious."

"Eddie Jordan has the final say on drivers but, if Benson and Hedges had their way, Irvine would be the perfect choice," a Jordan source told the Sun, "He is high-profile and they would be delighted if he finished where he started, with Jordan. If they were to offer paying his wages, that could swing things."

Button, meanwhile, is thought unlikely to want to leave Renault, where he is enjoying something of a resurgence in 2002.