Antonio Pizzonia Q&A
At Indianapolis Antonio Pizzonia made his first public appearance since he was dropped by Jaguar Racing in favour of Justin Wilson the day after the British GP. Not surprisingly he spent most of his time with Williams, for whom he served as a test driver before heading off to Milton Keynes. Just seven months ago the Brazilian was one of the latest wave of bright young things, but he turned into a text book example of how to get it wrong by being in the wrong place at the wrong time and with a team that finds you surplus to requirements. He's going to have a tough time rebuilding his career, and on the face if it his only chance to make amends could be as a fourth man at Williams, should that role need to be filled. Adam Cooper caught up with him at Indy

"Not much really! I just spent a lot of time with the family, enjoying life outside of the car."
"We still didn't reach an agreement. I think I was very badly treated, and I just want what I lost, really. Obviously we don't want to take them to court or anything like this, but if we need to, we're going to do it."
"It's a long story, and everyone knows that after two races they were already talking about changing drivers. Like I said, I was very badly treated. I don't want to say too many bad things, because there are a lot of good people there."
"I think I finished less than half of the races that I did. I don't remember number exactly, but if I finished five, in three I also had problems, but I still finished. I had mechanical problems the whole season, in testing, on Friday and Saturday, and in the race. So basically I didn't have a chance to show what I could do. But that's not the main problem. They knew what they wanted already, they knew that they were going to do it quite early in the season. Everyone knew that it was going to happen, and it was just a matter of time."
"Obviously that affects anyone, I think. In the beginning I didn't really to believe it. The team never came to me and said anything about it, they never complained about anything, so I didn't know if it was true or not. When we got to Barcelona then I knew that it was serious. After that things only got more and more difficult, but I still tried to forget that and I still tried to do my best. In the last race I had problems the whole weekend with the car. During the race after six laps the car was touching everywhere. I came on the radio and said it was touching but the balance was OK and I could still drive. And then they called me in when the pace car came in! Then I lost all the electronics on the car, I had no traction control, and I had to come in to change to a new steering wheel. But I was still doing quite well."
"I passed Mark, I passed Villeneuve, I passed Firman, I passed someone else. It was a good race, considering all the problems. But anyway, I think that's part of the past now. We're still fighting, but I just want what I lost. I had contracts with sponsors and so on. Like I said I was very badly treated. On the Monday after Silverstone the whole world knew about it, and I didn't know. The press knew before me. Someone called my manager, and then he checked."
"We never had any problems. Obviously he was the number one driver in there, so he always had the best equipment and all the attention, but between me and Mark, we never had any problems."
"There is not much happening at the moment. Obviously the plan is to be in F1 next year as a test driver or as a race driver. We're looking at the options at the moment, and we still don't know what's best for me. Of course there are not many seats left, and it's a bit too early because we don't know what's going to happen with the testing regulations for next year. We're just waiting, really."
"That was not my plan to come back so early, and it was not the team's plan as well. Now we're just checking what's best for my future, and what's best for the team as well."
"It will be a lot harder now for sure. But this is my place, I'm an F1 driver. I still believe a lot in myself, and there are a lot of people who believe in me as well, especially at Williams. We'll see."
"They've been very supportive for the whole season, and they were even telling the press what they thought about it."
"A little bit, but not too much to be honest. We don't know what's going to happen to ChampCars as well. But the plan is to be in F1. We just need to see what's the best option."

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