Pizzonia Could Land Williams Seat if Button Case is Lost

Brazil's Antonio Pizzonia could be in line for a Williams race seat next season if the team lose their battle over Jenson Button's services.

Williams announced a contract with Button earlier this year, but his BAR team put the move in danger after claiming they had taken up an option for the Briton to stay in 2005. The Contracts Recognition Board will decide next Saturday who is right in claiming Button.

If Button's defection to Williams is not approved, the Grove-based team revealed they would consider promoting Pizzonia to a racing seat alongside Australian Mark Webber.

"Certainly he [Pizzonia] would be on our list," team boss Frank Williams told Atlas F1 in an interview. "Since December 2001 he's done tens of thousands of kilometres of testing, he has thereby accumulated a substantial knowledge of what makes racing cars go tick and which are the quick ways around Grand Prix circuits, and he has learnt what not to do.

"That is not to say he hasn't got much more to learn, but I think if he is in a good team, if he finds himself on a good team he could be capable of winning races in due course."

Pizzonia has a test driver contract with Williams for next season, but the Brazilian has already raced this year when he replaced the injured Ralf Schumacher for four races, scoring six points.

The young Amazonian, who made his Grand Prix debut with Jaguar in 2003 before he was dumped after 11 races, is hopeful of landing the Williams seat if Button stays at BAR.

"I really want to race," Pizzonia said. "You never know - if Jenson doesn't end up coming back to Williams then maybe I'll get a chance to race for them again. Unfortunately there's not many seats in the top teams anymore, so if I don't race for Williams I'll test for them - I've got that contract already.

"In a way I wish that the races I had were a bit earlier in the season, because maybe I could have had more chances at a race seat with the other teams, or maybe even with Williams as well."

Read about Antonio Pizzonia in David Cameron's How Pizzonia Recovered his Career in today's issue of Atlas F1.