
With the official announcement coming from Jaguar Racing yesterday a
source within the Milton Keynes based squad has praised the decision
to bring Australian driver Mark Webber and Williams test driver,
Brazilian Antonio Pizzonia, on board for 2003.
The confirmation of Mark Webber comes as no major surprise, initial
rumours regarding the move earlier this year culminating in Minardi
boss Paul Stoddart revealing he had released his fellow countryman
from his contract and that he would miss him. Mark secured the teams
only points for the 2002 season in his debut race in Melbourne back in
March.
Meanwhile, Pizzonia's name added in to the mix after a superb test
late in the season sealing his future drive with the team as the
perfect match for Webber. A team source explained that there are no
hard feelings as far as Eddie Irvine is concerned, while de la Rosa
just didn't meet expectations. Meanwhile, they are convinced that
Pizzonia is a star of the future, someone that will put the cat among
the pigeons in next years championship
"There is no bad feeling with Eddie and the team
know they have not given him a great car for the past three years, it
was just felt that new blood was needed to carry the team on. With de
la Rosa, it just has not worked out. He hasn't come up to
expectations. The team believe that Webber and Pizzonia will
complement each other and spur each other on. Pizzonia did an
astonishing test in Barcelona. He was producing times you would have
expected after four days in the car in just one afternoon. He will
really shake up the grid next year and take no prisoners. He is an
even more aggressive version of Juan Pablo Montoya."
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