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Williams will launch their new car on the 31st of January with the expectation that the second driver will be announced by then.

There are only two candidates, Antonio Pizzonia and Nick Heidfeld.

Pizzonia is a Williams test driver, he knows the team and raced for them last year while Ralf Schumacher was injured and produced decent results. His brief at Jaguar though was a disaster.
Nick Heidfeld has been racing in Formula 1 for 5 years now but hasn't produced impressive results. His best year was his second year (2001)
During testing both were impressive and as we don't know their setup we can't really compare their test times. One thing for sure is that Williams were so impressed with Heidfeld that they can't yet make up their minds!

Who should be given the seat and why ?

I cannot understand how Williams are even thinking of giving Pizzonia a race seat. He was thrashed by Webber at Jaguar. Yes Pizzonia did well sitting in for Ralphie but one or two good races aren't enough to justify a full time race seat.
He seems to be a good test driver just like Wurz and Gene and so he should remain a test driver.

Nick Heidfeld is fast and we need to see someone with a better chance of pushing Webber and that has got to be Heidfeld. End of story

Give Pizzonia a chance.

Nothing was well at Jaguar so he shouldn't be judged on that. When he replaced Ralf he did a lot better than Gene and matched Montoya in a couple of races.

Heidfeld may be fast but what did he acheive in 5 years in F1 ? He went backwards

Pizzonia should get it

Williams would be crazy to go with two new drivers. Pizzonia knows the team.

The two are going head to head this week and I think the decision will be made on their performances. On day 1 Pizzonia was nearly half a second faster.

Williams have confirmed that the second driver will be announced at the launch on Monday ... more

I would feel sorry for Pizza, Webber knows how to push his buttons, no pun intended

julian mayo wrote:I would feel sorry for Pizza, Webber knows how to push his buttons, no pun intended

Don't know about that!. From all what we now know about the Jaguar operation, it wouldn' surprise me a bit if Webber did have the better car.

Remember Pizzonia was a match for Montoya in two races last year.

We'll know in a few hours

It would have been nice to see a Webber-Button fight though but there is always next year!

JV is back off the track ! in his latest test outing he oversteered off.

yeah yeah I know .... you don't need to remind me

Tells you he was pushing though

JayVee wrote:yeah yeah I know .... you don't need to remind me

Told ya, he's past his use by date .... even DC in the Red Bull seems to be doing better.

On this Pizza boy thing though, I reckon he's a softie and that doesn't work with racing drivers. Problem is that I don't see Heidfeld to be aggressive either.

Heidfield was bloody aggressive in german tourers, as Schuey found out a couple of times.

Williams made their decision to sign Heidfeld as their second race driver alongside Mark Webber ... more

eXCELLENT CHOICE, FOR THE TEAM, FOR NICK, AND FOR MARK. Look out Schuey, Kimmi, JP.! et al!

So Heidfeld gets it??

I wonder how much of a 'BMW' influence it was!

Lets hope Heidfeld proves he is good and pushes Webber

This Williams pairing has got to be the weakest of all the top teams. These 2 have no experience in a top team. Heidfeld has a single podium from a distant past while Webber has never finished on the podium.
Williams usually put a relative newbie with an experienced winner. This time we have a rising driver (in Webber) and an experienced midfielder (in Heidfeld). Frank Williams must be planning his attack for 2007!

I can understand the Aussies hoping Webber does real well but come on, it will take a year or two before things start to gel.