Zonta to replace Mazzacane at Prost?

Jordan test driver Ricardo Zonta has played down speculation that he could be in line to replace Gaston Mazzacane at the Prost Formula 1 team, as early as the San Marino Grand Prix in two weeks' time

There have been doubts surrounding Mazzacane's seat alongside Jean Alesi at the French outfit ever since Pedro de la Rosa was linked with a testing role at the team in February. The Argentinian's lack of pace during the first three races of the season has brought his drive into further question and reports in Autosport's sister publication Motorsport News suggest that Zonta could be drafted in as a replacement within the next fortnight.

However, despite the fact that Zonta is itching to get back into a race seat after losing his drive with BAR at the end of last year, the Brazilian feels he may be better off staying where he is.

"I would love to race this season," Zonta told this week's Autosport magazine, "but I am not sure whether that would be good for the long term."

Last year's McLaren tester Olivier Panis took Zonta's BAR seat for 2001 and proved that a year spent as a top team's third driver can be a more effective career boost than a season of racing at the back of the field.

Prost GP insists that Mazzacane does not have a performance clause in his contract and if that is the case, it could be difficult to free up his seat for Zonta. But team bosses Alain Prost and Eddie Jordan were involved in talks at last weekend's Brazilian Grand Prix and Prost is thought to have been trying to secure Zonta's services since December last year.

Further potential obstacles to the deal are Jordan's need to find another top-line test driver and also Prost's backing from South American TV network PSN, which followed Mazzacane from Minardi to Prost and has close links with the 25-year-old.

Zonta is testing for Jordan this week at Silverstone while Mazzacane is putting further development miles on the Prost AP04 at Magny-Cours.