Williams Surprised by Pizzonia's Lack of Pace

Williams team chiefs expressed surprise at Antonio Pizzonia's lack of pace this season, stating the young Brazilian had performed well as test driver last year.

Pizzonia debuted in Grand Prix racing with Jaguar Racing this season, but has so far failed to impress in qualifying or the races. His performance has so far drawn criticism from former Jaguar Boss, Niki Lauda, who was the one to hire Pizzonia in the first place.

"I am very confused too, I don't understand it," BMW's Gerhard Berger told reporters in a joint conference with Frank Williams. "He did a quite good job for us, and in testing last year he wasn't too much off [the pace of] our two drivers.

"Now suddenly he's missing more than a second... It's difficult to understand, but you never know what the situation is."

Williams concurred that Pizzonia's form last year was impressive, and said the Brazilian may simply need more time to gain experience.

"It doesn't say to me that Mark [Webber] is one or one and a half seconds quicker [than Pizzonia], it's not as black and white as that," Williams said. "I am sure he is psyched out by the difference, not controlling his mind to get his car better, making the odd mistake, and so on... it's called youth and inexperience."