VIDEO. He attacked the stranger while protecting his son. Former F1 pilot arrested in the USA

Former Formula 1 driver Antonio Pizzonia was arrested on suspicion of assault in the United States over the weekend. This was reported by the American publication TMZ.

The 45-year-old Brazilian has competed in various racing series throughout his career, including several seasons in Formula One between 2003 and 2005.

Pittoni made his F1 debut in the 2003 season at Jaguar, where he was teammate of Mark Webber. However, he was replaced by Justin Wilson before the last five rounds of the championship.

In 2004, the Brazilian returned to Formula One with Williams after test driver Marc Gene failed to persuade the team to replace the injured Ralf Schumacher. Pizzonia finished seventh three times in four races before losing his place to Schumacher, who recovered from injury.

For the 2005 season, Pizzonia was left without a permanent contract due to Williams’ bet on Nick Heidfeld. However, due to the German pilot’s injuries, the Brazilian player was invited back to the final stages of the season.

After retiring from Formula One, Pizzonia continued to compete in other racing categories. But according to TMZ, he was arrested over the weekend and taken to a Texas jail on assault charges.

On the day of his arrest, Pizzonia was at Speedsportz Race Park to support his son Antonio, who was competing in the 2026 Superkarts US Winter Series and finished ninth in the X30 Junior race that day.

A video is circulating on social media of a man pointing his finger at the young driver and cursing, while another man, presumably Pizzonia, appears out of nowhere, jumps on him, and throws a combination of kicks and punches at him.

Pizzonia commented on the incident as follows:

“There was actually one incident today that I would have reacted to differently,” Pizzonia said.

“At that moment I realized my son was under pressure from another adult, and I instinctively protected him.”