Irvine remained at Jaguar for 2001 and was partnered by Luciano Burti. Despite his vocal frustrations, Jaguar team principal Bobby Rahal backed Irvine for the upcoming season, although Irvine was not confident citing his uncertainty about his team becoming competitive which he has made vocal. Rahal became concerned over Irvine's attitude when the team's car, the Jaguar R2, was underperforming during pre-season testing. Irvine supported the view of being sacked at the end of the season if his performances did not satisfy the team. Irvine clinched 11th place in the first round in Australia and failed to finish in the next four consecutive races. Before the Spanish Grand Prix, Burti left Jaguar to join the Prost team so Irvine was partnered with Pedro de la Rosa. Irvine managed to finish the Austrian Grand Prix in seventh position and took Jaguar's first podium finish with third place in the following round in Monaco. In June, it was confirmed that Irvine and de la Rosa would be retained by Jaguar for 2002.