Antonio Pizzonia driver profile!

eytl · Post by **eytl** » 11 Jan 2013, 14:18

Hello everyone,

Firstly, happy new year to you all!

Secondly, after what has been a labour of love (?) for me over the last 6-9 months, I'm very pleased to announce that our Antonio Pizzonia profile is now online:

http://www.f1rejects.com/drivers/pizzonia/index.html

Having awarded him Reject of the Year in 2003, we owed him an in-depth biography. The result is the most detailed (both in terms of research and in terms of length - some 15,000 words, but don't let that put you off!) driver profile I have ever put together. I have made it so that it's not just a simple blow-by-blow account of his career, but it includes some analysis of why Pizzonia was so highly regarded as a major talent - by journalists, team bosses and fellow drivers alike - but ultimately did not cut the mustard. I was also fortunate to have the benefit of some exclusive insights from former Atlas F1 journalist, and now GP2 scribe, David Cameron, who probably got closer to Pizzonia during his time in F1 than any other English-speaking journalist.

Apart from the usual career summary, picture index and text only pages, once again I have included some audio clips of commentary, and several others will also be featured in the next edition of our podcast.

I hope you enjoy the read!

Cheers,
Enoch

FantometteBR · Post by **FantometteBR** » 11 Jan 2013, 15:08

Reading right now, and it's awesome! Again, you guys know how to rock!

BTW, Off-topic: a friend of mine had a 'brawl' with him on Twitter about football last year. Not the case of mentioning, but I just remind everytime I see his name...

Post by **Ataxia** » 11 Jan 2013, 15:16

Brilliant as always, Enoch!

I was nine when he first entered F1, and after seeing him wandering around the back of the grid for a few races I always wondered why Jaguar even bothered. I think everyone expected better. Everyone.

Jocke1 · Post by **Jocke1** » 11 Jan 2013, 15:25

Whoa!
Well done, Enoch. It'll take a while getting through reading it all.
I enjoyed that last picture of Pizzonia in the 2011 Ironman Brazil event, funny stuff.
The two things that stand out to me when thinking about Antonio Pizzonia, are:
- His flipping of the Jaguar at Catalunya with Steve Sutcliffe in the passenger seat.
- And this article from a Swedish F1 magazine I have kept all these years (printed early 2000)

They hailed him as a huge talent, and I can only wonder what went through his head
while he sat there in his room playing F1 on Playstation 1.
If he only knew what would happen next...

Gerudo Dragon · Post by **Gerudo Dragon** » 11 Jan 2013, 15:32

Good, as always.

FullMetalJack · Post by **FullMetalJack** » 11 Jan 2013, 16:07

Brilliant as expected, loved the extra touch with the audio clips of Martin Brundle's comments on him

UncreativeUsername37 · Post by **UncreativeUsername37** » 11 Jan 2013, 16:09

This is an absolutely epic profile, exactly as advertised.

FMecha · Post by **FMecha** » 11 Jan 2013, 16:23

That was long and epic. :shock:

I noted you mentioned HWNSNBM's name in the profile.

girry · Post by **girry** » 11 Jan 2013, 16:54

brilliant! Just read it all and I feel it shed Antonio's career in a reasonably fair light

shinji · Post by **shinji** » 11 Jan 2013, 17:28

Really enjoyed it, poor guy seemed to almost conspire against himself!

FantometteBR · Post by **FantometteBR** » 11 Jan 2013, 18:06

FMecha wrote:That was long and epic.

I noted you mentioned HWNSNBM's name in the profile.

Not many are used to the F1R lore of names and expressions, so using his name feels needed. And BTW, Is their site, so they can use HWNSNBM name anytime they want

FMecha · Post by **FMecha** » 11 Jan 2013, 18:16

FantometteBR wrote:
FMecha wrote:That was long and epic.

I noted you mentioned HWNSNBM's name in the profile.

Not many are used to the F1R lore of names and expressions, so using his name feels needed. And BTW, Is their site, so they can use HWNSNBM name anytime they want

Some say Enoch wore his anti-papaya suit when he wrote this article... :idea:

midgrid · Post by **midgrid** » 11 Jan 2013, 19:19

An excellent read and well worth waiting for!

AdrianSutil · Post by **AdrianSutil** » 11 Jan 2013, 20:28

I had no idea Pizzonia was very good in the lower formula before his F1 days. Sounds like another Norberto Fontana sadly. Great article btw.

Edit: I notice the Pizzonia avatar has gone and been replaced by a new one. Looks like a mid 90's McLaren, number 7 would probably be Hakkinen. So I'm going to take a punt on Jan Magnussen.

Post by **Londoner** » 11 Jan 2013, 20:43

AdrianSutil wrote:I had no idea Pizzonia was very good in the lower formula before his F1 days. Sounds like another Norberto Fontana sadly. Great article btw.

Edit: I notice the Pizzonia avatar has gone and been replaced by a new one. Looks like a mid 90's McLaren, number 7 would probably be Hakkinen. So I'm going to take a punt on Jan Magnussen.

I think it's a then 41 year old Brummie who raced but twice for McLaren that season...

Another great profile Enoch.

AdrianSutil · Post by **AdrianSutil** » 11 Jan 2013, 22:36

East Londoner wrote:
AdrianSutil wrote:I had no idea Pizzonia was very good in the lower formula before his F1 days. Sounds like another Norberto Fontana sadly. Great article btw.

Edit: I notice the Pizzonia avatar has gone and been replaced by a new one. Looks like a mid 90's McLaren, number 7 would probably be Hakkinen. So I'm going to take a punt on Jan Magnussen.

I think it's a then 41 year old Brummie who raced but twice for McLaren that season...

Another great profile Enoch.

I thought that but Enoch usually has the avatar of the next profiled driver.

tristan1117 · Post by **tristan1117** » 11 Jan 2013, 22:45

AdrianSutil wrote:
East Londoner wrote:
AdrianSutil wrote:I had no idea Pizzonia was very good in the lower formula before his F1 days. Sounds like another Norberto Fontana sadly. Great article btw.

Edit: I notice the Pizzonia avatar has gone and been replaced by a new one. Looks like a mid 90's McLaren, number 7 would probably be Hakkinen. So I'm going to take a punt on Jan Magnussen.

I think it's a then 41 year old Brummie who raced but twice for McLaren that season...

Another great profile Enoch.

I thought that but Enoch usually has the avatar of the next profiled driver.

Enoch said in the podcast that he was working on an article on Mansell's brief, rejectful, comeback in 1996.

Anyways, the article was brilliant and an interesting read. Other than Alex Yoong, Pizzonia is one of the few rejects (with a profile) whom I have watched on television. I have a VHS of Pizzonia's greatest moment, the 2004 Brazilian GP, and I used to rewatch it before the YouTube era during the offseason. It was one of the last hurrahs of attrition-filled, action-packed, dry racing that we all miss.

dinizintheoven · Post by **dinizintheoven** » 11 Jan 2013, 22:49

Another cracking read, and with two more to come in the near(ish?) future, I'll be looking forward to those as well. The proof-reader in me has noticed a couple of formatting errors, which I suppose isn't too surprising for such a long and in-depth profile, in these sections:

F1 Rejects website wrote:2003: Despite public support from Williams drivers, Spanish GP is a disaster

I don't think most of this section should be in italics...

F1 Rejects website wrote:2009-10: Pace aplenty but no Superleague wins; focuses on domestic scene in 2010

...and this sectionâ€™s got a few apostrophe issues, in a way Iâ€™m trying to demonstrate here.

Probably a two-minute clean-up job, if that.

East Londoner wrote:I think it's a then 41 year old Brummie who raced but twice for McLaren that season...

That's what I'd say as well. To think that Murray Walker predicted Nigel Mansell to be the 1995 World Champion...

Warren Hughes · Post by **Warren Hughes** » 11 Jan 2013, 23:39

Great read Enoch, thanks!

And that avatar must be Mansell, I'm sure I remember something about a Centrale article on his 1995.

FullMetalJack · Post by **FullMetalJack** » 11 Jan 2013, 23:40

Warren Hughes wrote:Great read Enoch, thanks!

And that avatar must be Mansell, I'm sure I remember something about a Centrale article on his 1995.

And it says an article about Mansell on the homepage.

Paul Hayes · Post by **Paul Hayes** » 12 Jan 2013, 16:53

Just finished reading - and thoroughly enjoying - this. Superb stuff as always, striking just the right balance between informative career information and insightful analysis of why his career went the way it did.

Post by **mario** » 13 Jan 2013, 09:43

The length of that article most certainly didn't put me off - on the contrary, the great length of that article makes it an excellent read and I am, like quite a few other posters here, surprised at how prodigiously talented Pizzonia appeared in the junior series but failed to deliver once he was offered the chance to in F1 (not to mention the glimpse that was offered into the mismanagement of the Jaguar Racing team over their handling of Pizzonia).

David AGS · Post by **David AGS** » 13 Jan 2013, 09:51

A great read, very well done as always.

Im going to add my 2 cents worth!..

Durign the pre demo run promoting the Australian Grand Prix 2005 (20th Australian f1 race) Pizzonia actually stalled it more than once. How I know? where I was standing there was a security guard giving us updates (via his headset). I have a photo somewhere with the Williams car being taken away whether I can find it is another story!

I remember that clearly as got my first 2 driver signatures on that day in Albers and Friesacher alongside Stoddart.

Faustus · Post by **Faustus** » 13 Jan 2013, 10:15

Just finished reading this profile. Superb as always!

Phoenix · Post by **Phoenix** » 13 Jan 2013, 11:58

To be honest, I find a similarity between Pizzonia and another F1 Reject, Corrado Fabi. Both appeared to be tremendously gifted at feeder categories but failed to translate that level of success in F1 because they struggled to find a way when things turned difficult for them.

QuickYoda41 · Post by **QuickYoda41** » 13 Jan 2013, 13:47

Really interesting read, thank you! 8-)

Yannick · Post by **Yannick** » 13 Jan 2013, 15:22

Thank you Enoch for yet another great driver profile. Pizzonia would have deserved unrejectification on raw pace alone, but you don't get that, so he has this profile to be proud of now. I would have liked to see him have a go at the Indy 500 but most likely, he could have become the best test driver ever. It's just that the top teams didn't notice once he was out at Williams. He should be amongst the Badoers, De La Rosas and Wurzes of the sport. Well, to some extent, he achieved that, to another extent, he didn't.

Brazilian Stock Cars will be the thing to watch next season since so many people relevant to this site are driving in the series. Please keep us updated on that from time to time on the podcast like you did with A1GP. Thank you.

Onxy Wrecked · Post by **Onxy Wrecked** » 13 Jan 2013, 20:56

Phoenix wrote:To be honest, I find a similarity between Pizzonia and another F1 Reject, Corrado Fabi. Both appeared to be tremendously gifted at feeder categories but failed to translate that level of success in F1 because they struggled to find a way when things turned difficult for them.

The difference is that Fabi could also be compared to Ukyo Katayama as both were forced to retire before they could become good or even great. Fabi retired early to take care of family quarry business while showing some promise when the fragile Osella held up to the end. Katayama retired early due to painful cancer in his back and had underwhelming performance while racing out his contract in severe pain.

Phoenix · Post by **Phoenix** » 14 Jan 2013, 11:57

Onxy Wrecked wrote:
Phoenix wrote:To be honest, I find a similarity between Pizzonia and another F1 Reject, Corrado Fabi. Both appeared to be tremendously gifted at feeder categories but failed to translate that level of success in F1 because they struggled to find a way when things turned difficult for them.

The difference is that Fabi could also be compared to Ukyo Katayama as both were forced to retire before they could become good or even great. Fabi retired early to take care of family quarry business while showing some promise when the fragile Osella held up to the end. Katayama retired early due to painful cancer in his back and had underwhelming performance while racing out his contract in severe pain.

Corrado Fabi, if I remember correctly, retired voluntarily. It's a shame he couldn't impress anyone with his three outings with Brabham subbing for his brother in 1984.

fjackdaw · Post by **fjackdaw** » 14 Jan 2013, 16:43

I remember, many years ago (perhaps as early as 2000), reading an article in F1 Racing, in which they mentioned two drivers which Williams tipped to be future world champions. They were Pizzonia and Pantano.

Onxy Wrecked · Post by **Onxy Wrecked** » 14 Jan 2013, 20:03

Phoenix wrote:
Onxy Wrecked wrote:
Phoenix wrote:To be honest, I find a similarity between Pizzonia and another F1 Reject, Corrado Fabi. Both appeared to be tremendously gifted at feeder categories but failed to translate that level of success in F1 because they struggled to find a way when things turned difficult for them.

The difference is that Fabi could also be compared to Ukyo Katayama as both were forced to retire before they could become good or even great. Fabi retired early to take care of family quarry business while showing some promise when the fragile Osella held up to the end. Katayama retired early due to painful cancer in his back and had underwhelming performance while racing out his contract in severe pain.

Corrado Fabi, if I remember correctly, retired voluntarily. It's a shame he couldn't impress anyone with his three outings with Brabham subbing for his brother in 1984.

Indeed, Fabi retired voluntarily but Katayama didn't announce that he had cancer until he retired in late 1997 and allegedly turning down an offer to drive for a top team in late 1994. Now why would a driver turn down such an offer and stay with Tyrell?

AdrianSutil · Post by **AdrianSutil** » 15 Jan 2013, 06:55

It's because he was diagnosed with cancer during 1994, and he didn't want his performances to drop when with a big team because of it. So he stayed at Tyrrell.

Ferrim · Post by **Ferrim** » 16 Jan 2013, 12:35

AdrianSutil wrote:It's because he was diagnosed with cancer during 1994, and he didn't want his performances to drop when with a big team because of it. So he stayed at Tyrrell.

There is an article at Reject Centrale about Katayama's 1994 season that explains it. The top team was most likely Benetton: remember that Mild Seven started sponsoring the team in 1994 and were also with Katayama until he retired at the end of 97. Ukyo said he couldn't accept the contract, probably because of the subsidiary role to Schumacher that he would have been forced to have.

fjackdaw wrote:I remember, many years ago (perhaps as early as 2000), reading an article in F1 Racing, in which they mentioned two drivers which Williams tipped to be future world champions. They were Pizzonia and Pantano.

Which is probably the best explanation so far of Williams' demise as a top team.

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 16 Jan 2013, 17:42

I found this from the article interesting (in 2001):

The only surprise Pizzonia received was in February 2001, when a samba school called Bloco Sem Compromisso in his hometown of Manaus decided to base its Carnival song and performance on Antonio, and Jungle Boy - a keen guitarist who would also carry the nickname 'Slash' after the former Guns N' Roses member - returned to Brazil to take part in the parade and to help sing the song about himself! On either side of that he prepared for his F3000 season by joining in the official tests at Imola and Silverstone.

Is there any YouTube footage of this?

Lizardfolk · Post by **Lizardfolk** » 10 Mar 2013, 01:25

Has anyone noticed that Pizzonia signed with Michael Shank Racing for the 2013 Grand-Am season with Yacaman?

with the how american sports car racing is merging next year it looks like Pizzonia still wants to go as international as he can.

I'll be watching him this season

Post by **Londoner** » 24 Jun 2013, 09:44

Brendon77 wrote:hi Jocke1!
Ten months ago, i read this article, thanks for sharing.

I'd imagine it would be a touch difficult to read this article 10 months ago, because it didn't exist back then you damned spambot. :lol:

Jonny83 · Post by **Jonny83** » 20 Jul 2013, 00:18

mario wrote:The length of that article most certainly didn't put me off - on the contrary, the great length of that article makes it an excellent read and I am, like quite a few other posters here, surprised at how prodigiously talented Pizzonia appeared in the junior series but failed to deliver once he was offered the chance to in F1 (not to mention the glimpse that was offered into the mismanagement of the Jaguar Racing team over their handling of Pizzonia).

Pizzonia was VERY good in the lower junior categories. Could never afford to go see much racing as a child but the one time I saw him in the flesh was at Brands Hatch in 1999 when my dad took me to the BTCC event, think it was Formula Renaults supporting that race - we were in the main grandstand and at the end of the first lap out of Clearways he came around quite literally in a different race to all the other cars. The old man, not a racing fan but there for my sake, spent the rest of the weekend raving about "that Pistonia" even though it wasn't the main event.

Seemed to be a downward spiral from there though, there seemed to be a consensus that he bottled it by being chased a bit by Scheckter's son to the 2000 F3 championship, and in F3000 he never stood out, and then F1...

Jocke1 · Post by **Jocke1** » 20 Jul 2013, 05:09

East Londoner wrote:
Brendon77 wrote:hi Jocke1!
Ten months ago, i read this article, thanks for sharing.

I'd imagine it would be a touch difficult to read this article 10 months ago, because it didn't exist back then you damned spambot.

FullMetalJack · Post by **FullMetalJack** » 20 Jul 2013, 12:11

Jocke1 wrote:
East Londoner wrote:
Brendon77 wrote:hi Jocke1!
Ten months ago, i read this article, thanks for sharing.

I'd imagine it would be a touch difficult to read this article 10 months ago, because it didn't exist back then you damned spambot.

Time travel perhaps?

Jocke1 · Post by **Jocke1** » 11 Sep 2014, 20:01