Antônio Reginaldo Pizzonia Júnior (born 11 September 1980) is a Brazilian professional racing driver who has raced in

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

and the

Champ Car World Series Champ Car World Series (CCWS) was the series sanctioned by Open-Wheel Racing Series Inc., or Champ Car, a sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing that operated from 2004 to 2008. It was the successor to Championship Auto Racing Teams ( ...

. Born in Manaus, he started his car racing career in the

Formula Vauxhall Junior In science, a formula is a concise way of expressing information symbolically, as in a mathematical formula or a ''chemical formula''. The informal use of the term ''formula'' in science refers to the general construct of a relationship betwee ...

series in 1997, and then progressed through various junior formulae, winning the Formula Vauxhall Junior Winter Festival in 1997, the Formula Vauxhall Junior and Formula Renault Winter Festival in 1998, the Formula Renault 2.0 UK in 1999, and the

British Formula 3 Championship The British Formula Three Championship was an international motor racing series that took place primarily in the United Kingdom with a small number of events in mainland Europe. It was a junior-level feeder formula that used small single seat ...

in 2000. For 2001 and 2002, he entered the

Formula 3000 Formula 3000 (F3000) was a type of open wheel, single seater formula racing, occupying the tier immediately below Formula One and above Formula Three. It was so named because the cars were powered by 3.0 L engines. Formula 3000 championships ...

, with his best championship finish being sixth in 2001. In 2003, he was signed by the Jaguar Formula One team, but following poor results, was released during the season. In 2004, he replaced the injured

Ralf Schumacher Ralf Schumacher (born 30 June 1975) is a German former racing driver. He is the younger brother of seven-time Formula One World Champion Michael Schumacher, and the pair are the only siblings to each win Formula One races. Schumacher began kart ...

at Williams in several events, securing his first Formula One points in the process. In 2005, he replaced

Nick Heidfeld Nick Lars Heidfeld (born 10 May 1977) is a German professional racing driver. Despite scoring regular podium finishes in with Williams Grand Prix Engineering, Williams, and in and with BMW in Formula One, BMW Sauber, Heidfeld never won a rac ...

at Williams, but was released from his contract at the end of the season. Since then, he has competed in multiple series, such as the Champ Car World Series, the Superleague Formula,

Stock Car Brasil Stock Car Pro Series, formerly known as Stock Car Brasil, is a touring car auto racing series based in Brazil organized by Vicar. It is considered the major Brazilian and South American motorsports series. Starting in 1979 with Chevrolet as the ...

, and the

FIA GT1 World Championship The FIA GT1 World Championship was a world championship sports car racing series, developed by the SRO Group and regulated by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), that was held from 2010 to 2012. It featured multiple grand ...

Racing career

Pre-Formula One

From 1991 to 1996 he competed in various karting series. In 1997 he moved to

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

and competed in

; Pizzonia placed second, and won the Winter Festival. In 1998, in addition to taking the Championship in Formula Vauxhall Junior, he won the Formula Renault Winter Festival. His 1999 season was even more successful, winning the Formula Renault 2.0 UK series and finishing second in the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup. In 2000, Pizzonia took five wins on his way to winning the

. For 2001, Pizzonia switched to the

series, winning one race and finishing sixth in the championship.

Formula One

In 2002, Pizzonia was hired as test driver for Williams, but also continued in F3000, placing 8th. After impressive testing performances, he was signed by the Jaguar team to partner Mark Webber for 2003, replacing the axed

Pedro de la Rosa Pedro Martínez de la Rosa (; born 24 February 1971) is a Spanish former Formula One driver who has participated in 107 Grands Prix for the Arrows, Jaguar, McLaren, Sauber and HRT teams. He made his Formula One debut on 7 March 1999, becoming ...

''Autosport'' 1 November 2002 . However, following a string of poor results, he was dropped late in the season and replaced by Minardi's Justin Wilson. Antônio Pizzonia 2003 Silverstone

In 2004 he returned to Williams as test driver. Before the

German Grand Prix The German Grand Prix (german: Großer Preis von Deutschland) was a motor race that took place most years since 1926, with 75 races having been held. The race has been held at only three venues throughout its history; the Nürburgring in Rh ...

, it was announced that Pizzonia would take over from Marc Gené, who had been filling in for the injured

. At the German Grand Prix, he finished 7th to take his first 2 career points; he repeated the feat at the Hungarian Grand Prix. In

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, he briefly led an F1 race for the first time, but failed to finish the race due to a gearbox problem, whilst running in 3rd place. He claimed a further 2 points in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

(during which he achieved the fastest ever recorded top speed in a F1 race at the time, 369.9 km/h, until Juan Pablo Montoya eclipsed this record the following year), but with the announcement of Ralf Schumacher's return for the

Chinese Grand Prix The Chinese Grand Prix () is a round of the Formula One World Championship and was contracted to return in 2023 but will now not do so until 2024 at the earliest. It is currently held at the Shanghai International Circuit, Jiading, Shanghai, d ...

, Pizzonia's racing was over for the year. Prior to the 2005 season, Pizzonia was in a virtual shoot-out with

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

for the second race seat at Williams alongside Webber. Despite Pizzonia's experience with the team and financial support from Petrobras, Heidfeld was given the seat. Pizzonia was still employed at Williams as a test driver, and when Heidfeld complained of headaches after being

concussed A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include loss of consciousness (LOC); memory loss; headaches; difficulty with thinking, concentration, ...

in a crash during the Friday Practice Session at Monza, Pizzonia gained the chance to race. Having not entered an F1 race since the

2004 Italian Grand Prix The 2004 Italian Grand Prix (officially the Formula 1 Gran Premio Vodafone d'Italia 2004) was a Formula One motor race held on 12 September 2004 at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza. It was Race 15 of 18 in the 2004 FIA Formula One World Champions ...

, the Brazilian qualified 16th, coming through the field to emulate his 2004 race result — picking up 7th place and 2 points. He then raced in the

Belgian Grand Prix The Belgian Grand Prix (French: ''Grand Prix de Belgique''; Dutch: ''Grote Prijs van België''; German: ''Großer Preis von Belgien'') is a motor racing event which forms part of the Formula One World Championship. The first national race of ...

. where he incurred a fine for taking out 2nd placed

Juan Pablo Montoya Juan Pablo Montoya Roldán (; born September 20, 1975) is a Colombian racing driver. He won the International F3000 championship in 1998, the CART FedEx Championship Series in 1999 in his debut year in the series, and the IMSA WeatherTech ...

just a few laps from the end. Pizzonia also took the drive in the Brazilian Grand Prix, but his race was over before the first corner after taking out his own teammate Mark Webber resulting from a collision with

David Coulthard David Marshall Coulthard (; born 27 March 1971) is a British former racing driver from Scotland, later turned presenter, commentator and journalist. Nicknamed 'DC', he competed in 15 seasons of Formula One between and , taking 13 Grand Prix vi ...

. Despite some speculation that GP2 champion

Nico Rosberg Nico Erik Rosberg (born 27 June 1985) is a German-Finnish former professional racing driver. He competed in Formula One from 2006 to 2016, winning the World Drivers' Championship in with Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport. The only child of Fi ...

would be given an opportunity in the last two races of the season, Pizzonia completed the season for Williams. He retired from the

Japanese Grand Prix The Japanese Grand Prix ( ja, 日本グランプリ, Nihon-guranpuri) is a motor racing event in the calendar of the Formula One World Championship. Historically, Japan has been one of the last races of the season, and as such the Japanese Gran ...

early after spinning off, and retired from (but was classified as a finisher in) the

after a puncture. Having been replaced by

for 2006, Pizzonia's Formula One career was over.

Post-Formula One

In 2006, he drove for Paul Gentilozzi's Rocketsports team in the

Long Beach Grand Prix The Grand Prix of Long Beach (known as Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach since 2019 for naming rights reasons) is an IndyCar Series race held on a street circuit in downtown Long Beach, California. Christopher Pook is the founder of the event. It w ...

and returned to the team towards the end of the season for races where Tõnis Kasemets did not have sponsorship to race. In 2007, Pizzonia was racing for

Fisichella Motor Sport Fisichella is an Italian noble family, forming part of the Sicilian nobility. Members of the family include multiple judges and prelates, among them a justice of the Supreme Court of the Kingdom of Sicily and an archbishop of the Roman Catholic ...

in the

GP2 series The GP2 Series was a form of open wheel motor racing introduced in 2005 following the discontinuation of the long-term Formula One feeder series, Formula 3000. The GP2 format was conceived by Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore, while Eccles ...

. In May, he was dropped in favour of Adam Carroll after only scoring 1 point in 5 races. After that, he returned to Brazil and entered into competition in

, a Brazilian national championship, from July. He has competed in the series every year since then, and has also raced in Superleague Formula ( SC Corinthians) and the

. In 2012, Pizzonia made a one-off guest appearance in the Auto GP World Series when the championship visited the Brazilian

Curitiba Curitiba () is the capital and largest city in the state of Paraná in Brazil. The city's population was 1,948,626 , making it the eighth most populous city in Brazil and the largest in Brazil's South Region. The Curitiba Metropolitan area ...

circuit. Driving for the Ombra Racing team, he won both races, immediately slotting himself into ninth position in the championship. In 2014 and 2015, Pizzonia competed in the Auto GP series, with

Zele Racing Zele Racing is an Austrian motor racing team currently competing in the BOSS GP series via a partnership with HS Engineering. The team has raced in Auto GP claiming the series' final stand-alone championship in 2015, along with having previously ...

Racing record

Career summary

Complete International Formula 3000 results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete Formula One results

( key) Driver did not finish the Grand Prix, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

American open wheel Racing

( key)

Complete Champ Car results

IndyCar

¹ ''Run on same day''
² ''Non-points-paying, exhibition race''

Complete GP2 Series results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Superleague Formula

2008–2009

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

2009 Super Final Results

*Super Final results in 2009 did not count for points towards the main championship.

2011

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Brazilian competitions

Stock Car Brasil

^† Ineligible for championship points.

Complete Auto GP results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ^‡ Position when season was cancelled.

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

References

External links

News of Antônio Pizzonia (Article)Antonio Pizzonia on YouTubeAntonio Pizzonia on Instagram
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pizzonia, Antonio 1980 births Living people People from Manaus Brazilian people of Italian descent British Formula Renault 2.0 drivers Brazilian Formula One drivers Jaguar Formula One drivers Williams Formula One drivers Brazilian Champ Car drivers Brazilian IndyCar Series drivers GP2 Series drivers GP2 Series drivers from Brazil International Formula 3000 drivers Superleague Formula drivers British Formula Three Championship drivers Stock Car Brasil drivers FIA GT1 World Championship drivers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in the United Kingdom Auto GP drivers FIA World Endurance Championship drivers Rolex Sports Car Series drivers American Le Mans Series drivers Manor Motorsport drivers Sportspeople from Amazonas (Brazilian state) Ombra Racing drivers Scuderia Coloni drivers EuroInternational drivers Alan Docking Racing drivers Conquest Racing drivers Rocketsports Racing drivers