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Heidfeld/Pizzonia in Williams duel


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Heidfeld will be praying that he gets the nod to drive for Williams next year

LONDON, England -- Formula One rivals Nick Heidfeld and Antonio Pizzonia will test head-to-head in Spain in a session that could decide who races for Williams next year.

A Williams spokesman, however, rejected a suggestion that the Jerez test, the last before the New Year, had turned into a 'shoot-out' between the German and Brazilian hopefuls.

"We are continuing our process of evaluating Nick and seeing how he stacks up against Antonio," he said.

"The two will be on the track at the same time but we know already pretty much what Antonio is capable of," he said.

"We have also got components to test and we still have a work load to deal with. It's not just about driver evaluation."

Pizzonia has been the team's test driver all year, filling in for the injured Ralf Schumacher in four races, while Heidfeld has more experience of Formula One but only drove the Williams for the first time last week.

Pizzonia was the pre-test favourite but Heidfeld, 27, has made a big impression, and the quiet man from Moenchengladbach can also count on strong backing from engine partner BMW.

He made Williams take notice with his performance in wet conditions and the team asked him to return this week before making any decision about who partners Australian Mark Webber next season.

"In the rain, Nick is truly fast," race engineer Tony Ross said on the Williams website. "And he knows exactly what he wants when working with the car. Unfortunately, the track was never completely dry.

"Now, during his second test for us, we want to find out how he will perform in dry conditions," he added.

Heidfeld tested with Webber on Thursday, completing 126 laps on his way to a time of one minute 17.52 minutes. Webber lapped in 1:17.44 but his running was limited to 76 laps after requiring an engine change.

McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen was fastest in 1:16.628.

Briton David Coulthard continued to test for Red Bull, again lapping faster than his rivals for the race seat, Austrian Christian Klien and Italian Vitantonio Liuzzi.

Brazilian Rubens Barrichello, this year's overall runner-up for Ferrari, also made his return to testing for the first time since the end of the season in October.

Renault chose Monaco

Meanwhile, Renault will unveil their 2005 Formula One car in Monaco on February 1, the French team have announced.

Sponsored by Japanese cigarette brand Mild Seven, the team has launched its new car outside France in recent years due to stringent anti-tobacco advertising legislation at home. This year's took place in Sicily.

The team finished third in the championship in 2004 and will be looking to the new R25 to challenge for the constructors' title in 2005.

"The target is to be next year really fighting for the title," Renault F1 president Patrick Faure told reporters in October when he committed the team to at least another three seasons in the sport.


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