The two-time CART champion Alex Zanardi will resume his Formula One career as early as next week, when he will attend his first testing session for the Williams Team at Barcelona.

Williams announced earlier this week that it has signed Zanardi for 1999, along with current Jordan Driver Ralf Schumacher. The current two Williams drivers, Jacques Villeneuve and Heinz-Harald Frenzten, will be leaving the team for BAR and Jordan respectively, and therefore do not attend any Williams testing for the 1999 season. Zanardi however is currently in Europe most of the time, where his wife gave birth to their first son two weeks ago. However, although he will being testing for Williams next week in Barcelona, the Italian will finish the CART season and drive in the three remaining races, including the next one at Houston in 10 days.

"I'd like to sit here and tell you that's he's staying with Target/Chip Ganassi Racing, but instead he's made a decision to return to Formula One and drive for Williams Grand Prix," said Zanardi's CART team owner Chip Ganassi. "Certainly over the past three years of his association with our team I've enjoyed his sense of humor, the way he has treated his fans, the team and the media, but most importantly, his passion for the sport. We're certainly going to miss our friend, but certainly I speak for everyone on the team when I say we're happy for him. We wish him the best of luck."

Zanardi, 31, noted that making the decision to go back to Formula One was not easy. "It was a hard decision to leave Target/Chip Ganassi Racing," Zanardi said. "I wanted to be loyal to my contract, which I signed three years ago with Mr. Ganassi, but also because it was the best thing for my racing career. The accomplishments we've achieved with this great team have been above every expectation by far.

"My life is changing. Everything changes in life. I feel at peace with myself, because I know that I am leaving the team when nobody is angry. I feel, for me, departing, that I have paid my duty and now it's time, as everything changes in life, that it's time to try to do something else. In order to do it in the best way possible, I decided to drive for what I think is probably one of the best, if not the best, technical teams in Formula One, which is Williams Grand Prix."

So far Ganassi has not indicated who might get the coveted seat left behind by Zanardi. "I don't want to get into any names now," said Ganassi. "There are names out there, a lot of good drivers are available. We've had success the last three years and I don't feel a need to name someone today, or even tomorrow. I think we're in a fortunate position to pick and choose a little bit."

Among those believed to be on Ganassi's wish list are top CART rookies Tony Kanaan and Helio Castro-Neves, although both have contracts with their current teams, Indy Lights champion Tony Kanaan and European Formula 3000 contender Juan-Pablo Montoya. Ganassi denied a strong rumor at the beginning of the week that he had decided on Kanaan who achieved his first Champ car podium at Laguna Seca ten days ago. "I haven't heard that myself," Ganassi said.

Zanardi has set a number of new marks in his short Champ car career. He scored 14 victories in just 48 CART races, reaching that 14-win mark faster than any other driver in CART history. And it's not over yet, Zanardi still has three races to go. He says he is looking forward to the races in Houston, Australia and Fontana.

"It's what drives us all in life," Zanardi explained. "You achieve something and you want to achieve something more. You're never happy enough. That's part of race driving life. If you don't have desire to go even further and you get happy with what you have, you're not prepared to drive anymore.

"I had everything a driver could dream of with Target/Chip Ganassi Racing. I was with a team that loved me, each single member, not just Mr. Ganassi. Every member, every time I walked in the morning, would make me feel like if they had a million options, I would still be their pick. That's a great motivating factor. On the other end you could say what do you want more? You want to try to enter into a new challenge. That is what Formula One represents for me."