This car was Pedro de la Rosa’s Jaguar R3 F1 car during the 2002 season, and was later used for tests in the Pininfarina wind tunnel. The colours show the air pressure around the car – blue for low, green for neutral, and red for high pressure, which creates the downforce to keep the car on the road. This science is called “Computational Fluid Dynamics” or CFD.

After having been absent from motor racing for seven years since the last of the TWR Jaguar XJR prototype sports cars finished their successful run in 1992, at the Frankfurt Motor Show on 14 September 1999 it was announced that the existing Stewart-Ford Formula One Grand Prix team (bought by Ford in June 1999) would become the Jaguar Racing team. Naturally the return of Jaguar to racing, especially in Formula One, attracted a great deal of interest, both from the media and from many fans.

At first managed by Sir Jackie Stewart OBE and his son Paul, the new team was based at Milton Keynes. The first Jaguar single-seater racing car, the R1, was developed from the existing Stewart-Ford, and was unveiled at Lord’s Cricket Ground in London on 25 January 2000. The debut race for the new team came in the Australian Grand Prix in March 2000. The engine was a Cosworth V10, supplied by this Ford-owned company at Northampton. Major sponsors were the HSBC Bank and Beck’s Bier, also Hewlett-Packard, AT&T and others, joined for 2002 by EDS and Dupont.

Eddie Irvine had finished second in the Drivers’ Championship in 1999, and was to spend three seasons with Jaguar, until 2002. The second team driver in 2000 was Johnny Herbert, later briefly replaced by Luciano Burti, and in April 2001 by Pedro de la Rosa who also raced for Jaguar to the end of 2002.

For 2001 the car became the R2, and for 2002 the R3, both were in effect developed versions of the original design. The best result achieved during 2002 was Irvine’s third place in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza in September.