CART Is Losing Another Champion

Alex Zanardi really is going back to Formula One.

Confirming the long-standing rumor, the CART FedEx champion announced Tuesday that he would leave Chip Ganassi’s champ car team to drive for Frank Williams next season.

Zanardi, who won two CART championships in his three years on the circuit, will test for Williams next week in Barcelona, Spain, but said he would fulfill his contract with Ganassi, driving the final three CART races in Houston, Australia and at the California Speedway in Fontana on Nov. 1.

“In life, if you achieve something you want very much, then you need to move on and attempt to achieve something new,” Zanardi said by phone from his home in Bologna, Italy. “That is what Formula One means to me, a new challenge. I would not have done it if I had not had the option of joining a No. 1 team. Williams did not have such a good year, but I know the technical knowledge is there to regain the top spot.”

No terms were announced, but European sources reported that Zanardi would receive $6.7 million. He said it was a three-year deal.

Zanardi, 31, becomes the fourth of the last seven CART champions to move to Formula One after winning the American championship. The others are Michael Andretti, 1991; Nigel Mansell, 1993; and Jacques Villeneuve, 1995. Andretti returned to CART after less than a season and Mansell, who had joined CART after a successful career in Formula One, did not finish his season back in Europe. But Villeneuve won the Formula One championship in his second season.

“We are excited at the prospect of welcoming a second transatlantic champion to the team in Alex,” said team owner Williams.

Villeneuve is leaving Williams next season to drive for the new British American team.

Zanardi’s 1999 teammate will be Ralf Schumacher, younger brother of two-time champion Michael Schumacher.

Before Zanardi joined Ganassi’s team in 1996, he had driven in 25 Formula One races from 1991 through 1994. When his Lotus team folded, Zanardi contacted Ganassi and agreed to drive in the CART series.

In his first season, he finished third as teammate Jimmy Vasser won the championship, then last year beat Vasser for the title. This season, Zanardi clinched the $1-million champion’s bonus with four races remaining. He has won 14 of his 48 CART races.

Ganassi said he had no one in mind to replace Zanardi. Vasser recently signed a new three-year contract.

“There is no burning need to name someone today or tomorrow,” Ganassi said. “It may be a rookie or a big name, I don’t know. There are a lot of good drivers out there. What we want most is a driver with desire, like Alex.”