This particular car was Irvine’s regular car throughout 2002, including the Monza race. It was chosen for preservation, although it is not currently fitted with an engine, and is liveried as it was for the Monza race.

After an absence from motor racing of almost a decade, it was announced at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September 1999 that the existing Stewart-Ford Formula One Grand Prix team (which had been 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 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 the Lord’s Cricket Ground in London on 25 January 2000. The engine was a Cosworth V10, supplied by this Ford-owned company at Northampton. The debut race for the new team came in the Australian Grand Prix in March 2000, the traditional season opener.

The team drivers were Eddie Irvine, who had finished second in the drivers’ championship in 1999 in a Ferrari, and Jonny Herbert, winner of the 1999 European Grand Prix at the Nürburgring in the Stewart. Eddie Irvine was to spend three seasons with Jaguar until 2002, but Johnny Herbert was replaced by Luciano Burti, at the start of the 2001 season and then from April by Pedro de la Rosa.

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 the third place for Eddie Irvine in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza in September. Altogether he scored eight championship points during the season.