The Irishman insisted the decision summed up their philosophy for the season ahead as they look to atone for last year's disappointments.

Jordan slipped from third to sixth overall in the manufacturers' championship last year but are more confident of success now they have engine giant Honda as their suppliers.

"When we were doing those launches by the time the car came back we had lost four days," said Jordan.

"We felt it was particularly important we maximised the time the car was with us this season. That's even more important because the start of the season has been brought forward.

"It meant that we could test yesterday and last Saturday and that we will be able to test again tomorrow." Jordan added.

"It was very disappointing for us last season. 2000 started so well but then we had reliability problems.

"But with Ferrari and McLaren you do not get two bites of the cherry and while we were trying to sort out the problems other teams kept pushing and we suffered."

Jordan believes the arrival of Honda - the Japanese car giant which dominated the sport in the late 1980s and early 1990s - will be crucial this year.

And Jordan insisted there will be no excuses if it does not come right in 2001.

"If we blow it this time, you can blame us because we will never have had a better opportunity.

"The bravado of Jordan has always been there and I am more encouraged than ever before and I am hungry for the season to start."

Germany's Heinz Harald Frentzen and Italy's Jarno Trulli will again be back behind the wheel when the season gets under way in Melbourne on March 4th.

Frentzen, who scored two wins in his first season with the team in 1999, said: "I still believe that Jordan is the team of the future. I still believe in the people at Jordan and with Honda joining us we are going to have good chances to win.

"We have spent more time making the car fast and hopefully all the things will fit together right from the beginning so that we can attack."