Pizzonia confirmed for Spa.

Williams-BMW substitute Antonio Pizzonia has been officially confirmed as stand-in for the injured Ralf Schumacher at next weekend's Belgian Grand Prix.

Although there was very little suggestion that anyone else was in the frame to replace the German alongside Juan Montoya at Spa, Pizzonia was only officially listed as the driver of the #4 car today [Friday]. Schumacher underwent his latest fitness test two days after the Hungarian Grand Prix, but was ruled out until at least the Italian round early next month. He is now tipped to complete a four-day test with the team at Monza once the summer testing ban, but will have to see both his own doctor and F1 medical chief Sid Watkins before getting behind the wheel.

Pizzonia, meanwhile, gets a third outing as part of the race team, having replaced Marc Gene alongside Montoya at the German GP last month. Where the Spaniard failed to score on appearances at Magny-Cours and Silverstone, Pizzonia has picked up four points with top-eight finishes in Germany and Hungary. The Brazilian is now looking forward to getting out on track at a venue that holds special memories for him.

"I have raced [there] four times in different formulae, including Formula Renault, F3 and F3000," he said, "and the best was definitely in 2000, when I became British F3 champion, having finished the race in second place. Spa is a very special place, so I can't wait to drive a Formula One car around it."

Out-spoken as he tends to be, Pizzonia is already playing down speculation that the circuit holds one of the more fearsome corners in F1.

"I don't think Eau Rouge is as challenging as it used to be, because Formula One cars have so changed much," he explained, "We have such a huge amount of downforce now, and the tyres have improved so much, that I think everyone pretty much goes flat out around it."

The Brazilian can expect to have some further developments on his FW26 in Belgium, as the team confirmed that aerodynamic advances, particularly around the winglet and cooling chimney area, will be introduced following work in the wind tunnel.