Rookie F1 driver Antonio Pizzonia is to be axed by the Jaguar Racing squad to make way for McLaren tester Alexander Wurz, according to insiders.
Rumours in the F1 paddock suggest Pizzonia's contract with the Jaguar team is subject to performance clauses that the Brazilian racer has failed to achieve in the opening races of 2003. Jaguar are thought to be lining up former Benetton driver Wurz to replace Pizzonia and take advantage of the lanky Austrian's knowledge of McLaren's latest machinery. Insiders suggest Pizzonia's last race for Jaguar will be the Spanish Grand Prix on May 4th and Wurz will take over at his home race on May 18th at the A-1 Ring.
Pizzonia's drive with Jaguar has been the subject of intense speculation in the face of disappointing performances by the former Williams test driver. Pizzonia has been overshadowed by his Australian team-mate Mark Webber and inconsistency has blighted his race day performances. Since the beginning of 2003 Jaguar have made solid progress with their R4 chassi and are known to be unhappy that only Webber is racing near the front of the grid.
Speculation that Pizzonia is about to be replaced is strengthened by McLaren's decision to give Wurz a lesser testing role recently. Former Jaguar driver Pedro de la Rosa was recently signed by McLaren for testing duties and it is believed the move may have been in order to prevent Wurz from taking sensitive information to Jaguar.
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