Eddie Jordan has moved quickly to dispell inaccurate press speculation suggesting that Ralph Firman's position in the team may be under threat.  Reports that Firman had disappointed the team after failing to finish three of the four races this season 'defied belief' given that on every occasion it was a technical problem that ended his race.

"The speculation about Ralph is nonsense," said Jordan flatly.  "He is learning and we will support him in that.  It's impossible to beat a team-mate who is an experienced driver like Giancarlo with over 100 Grands Prix behind him.  We want Ralph to relax a bit more - sometimes you have to put your arm round a drivers shoulder and help him.  He is under no pressure from us and I have no doubt he can perform very well."

The speculation about Firman seems to have arisen following the current problems besetting Jaguar Racing's Antonio Pizzonia, whose seat is said to be under threat because he has not matched the pace of team mate Mark Webber.  Pizzonia, with a vast amount of F1 testing under his belt, has not had a good start to the season.  Firman, by contrast, has had very little testing and Jordan has been entirely supportive during the early races, particularly as they were ruined by suspension failures and a blown engine in Imola.

Firman's accidents during the races Australia and Brazil, and practice in Malaysia, were directly caused by suspension problems.  The faults have been traced and rectified by the team.

The 27 year old was only three tenths of a second slower than team mate Fisichella in yesterday's first qualifying and has been narrowing the gap to the Italian since the beginning of the season.

"I think everyone should think twice about criticising Ralph and look at his record.  He looks after the car, he learns because he is an intelligent racer and he's won everything he's set out to win.  F1 is tough, and when you are fresh into a team on the eve of the season, with half a dozen days of rain-affected testing and up against one of the top four drivers in the world as your team mate, it's not exactly easy.  He needs time and we've given him that.  We've also seen some indications of what he can really do, particularly in the races such as in Malaysia when he drove very well indeed."