BBC SPORT | Motorsport | Formula One | Lauda confident of further success

Jaguar boss Niki Lauda is backing his team to register another podium spot before the end of the season.

Eddie Irvine finished an unexpected third in Sunday's Italian Grand Prix at Monza, giving the Milton Keynes-based outfit their strongest showing of the year so far.

I like it that we now go to Indy with a good race in our pocket

Jaguar boss Niki Lauda

It was Jaguar's second podium finish, and moved them into sixth spot in the constructors' championship with eight points.

And with only two races to go before the end of the season, Lauda is looking to the United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis in two weeks time for the success to continue.

Irvine praises Jaguar progress

He said: "Indy is a similar circuit to this circuit and Spa (Belgium) so I think we are good at these places.

"I don't think we will go backwards in Indy. It will be the other way around."

Irvine's podium spot is all the more impressive when you consider that Jaguar sacked technical director Steve Nichols before the campaign when a serious design fault was discovered in the R3 car.

"We had to analyse things, but it is very difficult when you have such a bad car which from day one we had," added Lauda.

Jaguar Niki Lauda
Lauda wants to see future successes

"We were fighting Minardis in the last row of the grid so we did not have a big problem, we had a huge problem.

"We had to work hard to really understand what parts were wrong on the car and there have been a lot.

"Then step-by-step we improved them and now, thank God, we got the result here.

"It was a great result and I am very satisfied especially for the people working in Jaguar Racing and Cosworth, because for eight months we did not have an easy time and we worked day and night for no foreseeable result which doesn't motivate people.

"But we finished third here which is exactly what we are looking for - motivation for the people who are hard working."