Pizzonia - a Ton of Experience

[darcym]

First, I'll make a few quick points to stop the possiblity of flames


I am neither an Antonio fan or hater, he just seemed to be someone who was "there"

I think Jaguars treatment of staff and drivers in a more extreme way. eg: Herbert was given a hard time, The team stood by Burti, then ousted him (after they said they wouldn't) for Pedro-DLR. They have done the same with Antonio, made a public "we'll stand by him" then got rid of him behind his back.


My point on this thread is until today when I was doing some research on test drivers (it started with courtney) I found out that Pizzonia has had a lot more F1 experience than I thought.

I found out he did occasional testing for Williams 1999 2000, and Duel F3000 / Williams testing in 2001 / 2002. Thanks to his Petrobras links he did Arrows testing in 2001 also. Thats 4 years of F1 testing along side other Formula racing.

With this in mind he should have been on the pace in Jaguar straight away, I felt sorry for him that he was not given time, but with this ammount of testing under his belt, I think he should have done a lot better out of the box.

Any one else have more detail on this, or has it changed anyones view now knowing this.

[Aysedasi]

Originally posted by darcym
I think he should have done a lot better out of the box.

I guess my question is, bearing in mind all that past experience, why didn't he?

[Bononi]

There are people saying that he was hired when Lauda was in charge, and then everything changed, and he didn't feel confortable with the new staff. I don't know anything about it, but how this could affect his performance really puzzle me...

[Wrex]

I think his lack of performance could be due to a combination of things. Testing is one thing, racing is another. Some drivers (as talented as they may be) just dont take to F1.

He also got off to a rocky start with the crashes in testing. This foundation may have upset his rythum. There is no doubt Webber was Jags favorite boy. Rightly so IMO, but thats got to put a driver under preasure.

Although drivers have to take the opportunites when they exist, sometimes getting into F1 too early or into the wrong team can kill a career before it starts.

Had he gone to Minardi, things might have been different. The spotlight is'nt as bright at the back of the grid.

I recall Webber being handed a contract by Walkinshaw as he got into the Arrows for testing. He was ambushed, but refused to sign it. I honestly thought Webber's F1 dream was over that day. With the wisdon of hindsight, it was the smartest decision Mark ever made.

[Bononi]

Don't forget that Webber's amazing start had mined Pizzonia's confidence, no doubt. For more experienced, he was a rookie and it can blow anyone's mind seeing his team mate shining like the sensation of the season.

[MrSal]

I think the 1 lap qualifying session really puts drivers under pressure.
Some drivers, Ralf(eventually) Webber and Trulli are examples of drivers who thrive on the pressure, Pizzonia, DC and Villenueve are examples of drivers who are either too conservative or over drive and become too scruffy. A couple of crappy qualifying runs seems to effect the mentality of some drivers and I'm afraid Pizzonia wasn't strong enough mentally.

[Wrex]

If you want a good laugh (its almost sad now) I saved the thread webber/pizzonia... who'll be quicker? from Novemeber last year.

I'll start baking some pies, while the rest of you read through (gotta love the fact a permanent record is kept).

Here are some quotes from the thread (unfortunately an-ex member ruins the back end, but its all fun)

Originally posted by Daisy
I agree with Raven. It will be Pizzonia, easy one, Webber is an overated driver.

Originally posted by I Ate Yoko Ono
Pizzonia by far. Pizzonia is all about Montoya/Raikkonen levels of natural talent.

Webber is a plodder...I'm amazed Jaguar have wasted money on the overrated, underachieving Aussie. IMO he is on a par with other F1 plodder journeymen such as Blundell, Bernoldi, Verstappen, Yoong and any other overrated underachieving rubbish.

Originally posted by RAT CATCHER
pizzonia , will be the first driver to take the fight to shu , just you watch, this is at last the chance for a real super star to shine.

My favorite

Originally posted by Trebor
Pizzonia, he is very talented and quick.
He, Sato and Massa are the future.

Hows this for accuracy though:

Originally posted by 429CJ
Webber will trash Pizzonia, who will disappear quickly from Formula 1.

*scared of the thought of some of my predictions coming back*

[Bononi]

You evil man, Wrexie Some pies to be eaten by some people...

[Yoong Montoya]

There is 1 thing I don't understand:

How come Pizzonia didn't take the spare Minardi seat alongside Verstappen? He could have reinvented himself. It isn't impossible.

[Snrub]

Logic would seem to dicate that Pizzonia should and possibly could have done better. Recall the difference between HHF with Williams and Jordan. The team environment can effect a lot of things. 1 lap qualifying may have been a big part of things. Some drivers can be very good, but not so good at driving F1 cars and in the conditions required.

[JR Ewing]

Pizza first showed that he was going to balls itup when he rolled that Jag S type at Barcelona with the press boys in. I doubt the team management were too impressed...

[darcym]

I was just surprised at 4 years of F1 testing, I thought he'd only done one.

[Alx]

To clarfy the amount of testing:

The 1999 test with Williams was a one off test given as a prize for winning the UK Formula Renault championship. This had been done for a number of years, and 1999 was the last time it was done (BMW started doing Williams's engines after that).

Apart from that in 2000, Pizzonia had a decent amount of testing for Benetton, this interested Arrows for one, maybe two tests at the end of the year, and there was talk of an F1 drive for 2001. Benetton, I believe, offered him a contract not dissimilar to the one which Fernando Alonso is currently under (they would have been offered this around the same time) which he rejected, instead joining Petrobras in F3000 (effectively the Williams junior team). 2001 he had about as much testing for Williams as his F3000 team mate Ricardo Sperafico (IIRC, Sperafico got his first test first!), before in December he was announced as Williams test driver, then resumed the expected testing duties.

It is probably closer to 2 years full testing than 4.

[Alx]

Originally posted by JR Ewing
Pizza first showed that he was going to balls itup when he rolled that Jag S type at Barcelona with the press boys in. I doubt the team management were too impressed...

I think that set the ball rolling for them to get rid of him.

Besides, the rumours that they wanted rid started in Brazil, the third grand prix of the season, so they were saying, what, you drove terribly in Melbourne, and drove ok (on a par with Webber), but with a few rookie errors in Sepang, so now we'll think about getting rid of you...

He was never the strongest driver mentally, but if you can get round that (as John Booth, John Village and Jonathan Lewis managed), he'll do fine.

Hopefully, there are enough people out there who believe in his talent for him to get another chance. I think anyone who followed his junior career would support the fact that we never really got the chance to see what he could do.

[DNQ]

at Wrex for digging those up again I remember saying Webber would edge it fairly comfortably with Pizzonia coming on strong over the course of the year, but I certainly didn't predict this landslide.

I really don't think there are any excuses for Pizzonia. It just seems to me he didn't gel with F1, plain and simple. He's fast, has tested alot, is highly rated, wasn't in a big team so there wasn't a lot of pressure, had a decent car under him and didn't have a big name team mate (at that stage), yet it didn't work out. Sure motivation could be a problem, but if you're mentally beaten from your first race in Formula One, you'll never be a winner.

[climb]

Nice job WREX,
but now it's so easy to check you post in that thread:

Originally posted by Wrex
"...in terms of pace, there will be nothing between them. "

Not bad as well..

[ralf fan]

Jaguar being rumoured to replace Pizzonia after the 5th race in Spain didnt help it put added pressure on Antonio to perform.

[Wrex]

I was a little kind to pizza boy also.

Now all I need to do is await the BAR announcement and a whole bunch of JV threads are coming back

[Wrex]

I should also point out (in everyones defence), this thread pre-dates the new qualifying rules.

[Knowlesy]

I reckoned Pizzonia would be close to Webber but crash rather a lot - like Massa to Heidfeld. How wrong can you be.......

Thanks for the old thread Wrex. Bloody hilarious!

Webber is a plodder? Pizzonia will be up there with the best of them?

[Cobra]

If Pizzonia gets his old job back with williams and Williams will not confirm or deny that he has been offered it then there is the possibility in a season or two for him to get a drive with a team again.
Jaguar do seem to have been a bit hasty in there dumping of him but on the other hand he was not having much luck with them.

[Redlake27]

If the face doesn't fit he is better out of there, but there does seem to be a trend at that team, even from the Stewart days.

Magnussen, Verstappen, Herbert, Burti, De La Rosa, Pizzonia.... being the number two there means you rarely see out your contract.

Maybe it is something to do with Stewart's tendency to drive his young proteges around some circuit in a road car and show them how it is done. When they turn around and say "Yes, grandad, but i've got experience of 850BHP and you haven't, so shut up", they are booted out of the door........

[Adam43]

Originally posted by JR Ewing
Pizza first showed that he was going to balls itup when he rolled that Jag S type at Barcelona with the press boys in. I doubt the team management were too impressed...

Is this a reason to get rid of an F1 driver? Not really, but hey, that's Jaguar for you.

It probably got them more press coverage!

[Bononi]

We see it happens almost every season. Contracts in F1 are useless, to say the least. Unfortunately it shows the level of commitment and honesty you get from those bosses. Pizzonia will take a legal action, but I doubt it will come out as a repairment in his career.