Born in the Amazonian city of Manaus, "Jungle Boy" Antonio Pizzonia has climbed the European motor racing ropes to finally reach Formula One this year. After two races, the jury is still out over the Brazilian's speed, having had to cope with all sort of problems as Jaguar try to finally come good. But Pizzonia is confident he can prove his worth given the time and the right equipment. Atlas F1's Gary Emmerson and Carl McKellar talked to the rookie about how he is getting to grips with the F1 jungle

Six months ago, the sharks began to circle around Antonio Pizzonia. Toyota, Minardi and Jaguar Racing were all rumoured to be interested in claiming the signature of the talented young Brazilian following an impressive year combining his drive in International Formula 3000 with a test seat with Williams-BMW.

In the end, it was under-performing and much-maligned Jaguar who put their faith in Pizzonia, believing he is the man to turn around the fortunes of the team along with fellow newcomer Australian Mark Webber, the former Minardi driver.

Pizzonia underlined his potential, and over-exuberance as well for the matter, when he topped the winter testing times and then rolled a Jaguar road car with passengers in. On his past performance and those testing displays, things looked bright for the 22-year-old.

Two races into his debut season - in Australia and Malaysia - that optimism is beginning to wane already. As he prepares to tackle his home Grand Prix at the Interlagos circuit this weekend, Pizzonia admits he is unlikely to uproot any trees in Sao Paulo as he awaits a more competitive performance in the European campaign.

After all, the youngster, dubbed the Jungle Boy owing to his years growing up in the Amazon, and teammate Webber have failed to get their cars to the finish in either of the opening two Grands Prix. Only a late exit in Australia, when he was classified 13th, has allowed the Brazilian to make the Championship standings - albeit with a big fat zero.

Pizzonia, like predecessors Eddie Irvine and Pedro de la Rosa at Jaguar, expects improvements to be made every race, and Brazil is no different. But after waiting for his Formula One chance to come for three years, the likeable Brazilian accepts he has to bide his time and wait for good things to arrive.

"We go to Brazil next, in front of my home people and on a circuit I know so maybe, I hope, there will be an improvement," Pizzonia told Atlas F1. "But when we go back to Europe it's going to be a lot easier. At the moment we're having a lot of mechanical problems, which is not helping.

"All the problems we had in Australia did not help. It was very difficult. We had a lot of problems there. I had very little track time and, of course, I didn't know the track, which makes everything a lot harder. Then we had problems in Malaysia as well. We had a brake problem, then the front wing came off the car going down the straight and we had a fuel pressure problem as well. I think those things don't help."

In fact in Friday's qualifying in Kuala Lumpur, Jaguar's persistent problems with the fuel pressure problem cost Pizzonia dearly. It was more frustration for a team restructured over the winter and looking to put three years of discontent and failure, for want of a better word, behind. Had he even been able to qualify, Pizzonia was not expecting anything great anyway.

"Even if the car had started I don't think it would have made much difference," he said of starting at the back of the grid. "We would have had to qualify with a heavy fuel load because we were already suffering problems with fuel pressure on light tanks in practice."

But those problems aside, Pizzonia also struggled to adapt to the circuits in Australia and Malaysia on his first visits to both Grands Prix. Brazil, being his home race, will be marginally better for him - if only for knowing the track.

According to the man himself, the Europe season will hold better fortunes as the two rookie Jaguar drivers begin to reap the benefits of Friday testing, rather than merely running to learn the circuit layout in the two hours available. Pizzonia insists that is when he should be judged.

"Just knowing the track better is going to be the biggest difference," he said of the Brazilian Grand Prix as well as the forthcoming European races. "Of course the drivers in Formula One are all very quick and you have difference between the cars, engines and tyres, but at the moment I can't really tell how much more difficult it really is.

"I can't tell yet because I've not been a position to do my best and at the moment I cannot drive the way I want to drive because there are a lot of things that are limiting my driving."

Never before has Pizzonia been limited. He made a lasting impression on Williams-BMW technical director Patrick Head during his year with the Grove-based squad, and the entire pitlane had already been aware of his undoubted talent after he breezed through the junior formulae.

He worked his way through the Brazilian karting scene and had a brief flirtation with Skip Barber Dodge in America before making the big switch to Cambridge in Britain.

Pizzonia ended 1997 as runner-up in the British Formula Vauxhall Championship and champion of the winter series before he won both summer and winter titles the following year. Stepping up to Formula One proved no problem when, after claiming the title in 1999, he earned a test with Williams.

British Formula Three provided no obstacle a year later, with 'dominant' the only word worthy of describing his season, before Benetton handed him a chance to stake a claim for a place in Formula One. But Pizzonia's full racing opportunity did not arrive until this year after Jaguar took a chance on him following two years in F3000.

Those seasons were typified by one thing - his sheer speed on the track. He has yet to send Formula One crazy with his ability and brilliance, but the grid have been warned. Once the problems with the car are sorted out, and when he is back on familiar tarmac in Europe, Pizzonia will be the name on the tip of several tongues. Just maybe those tongues will be wagging.

"I feel a lot more comfortable when I know the track and know the car," he insisted. "In Australia I never got to that point so I was a bit concerned and had to take it a bit easier. But I'm sure that when I know the tracks more it will be flat-out all the way.

"If I can attack I really will, but it's very difficult if you don't know the track completely. It is hard even to concentrate, because sometimes I don't know what I have to do to be quick. Yet it's totally different when I go to one of the tracks we've done plenty of testing at because then I know what to do. And I'm quick!"

But it is all a learning curve and at 22, Pizzonia has time on his side. He was made aware of life in Formula One in practice in Australia when he crashed out heavily following a brake failure, but for the eager youngster it is all part of his education.

"I had a big crash because of the brake failure," he said, brushing aside the incident as one of the risks of his job. "But, anyway, we're learning every day."

The quicker he learns the more likely Jaguar are to make the impression they expect.