Giorgio Pantano

Giorgio Pantano

Pantano in 2014 at Brands Hatch
Nationality Italy Italian
Born (1979-02-04) 4 February 1979
Padua, Italy
Formula One World Championship career
Active years 2004
Teams Jordan
Entries 15 (14 starts)
Championships 0
Wins 0
Podiums 0
Career points 0
Pole positions 0
Fastest laps 0
First entry 2004 Australian Grand Prix
Last entry 2004 Italian Grand Prix
Previous series
2009
2008
200508
2005
2004
200103
200002
2000
1999
1999
1999
Superleague Formula
International GT Open
GP2 Series
IndyCar Series
Formula One
International Formula 3000
Formula One testing
German Formula Three Championship
Formula Palmer Audi Winter Series
Euro Open by Nissan
British Formula 3 Championship
Championship titles
2008
2000
GP2 Series
German Formula Three Championship
IndyCar Series career
6 races run over 3 years
Team(s) Chip Ganassi Racing (2005 & 2012), Dreyer & Reinbold Racing (2011)
Best finish 26th (2005)
First race 2005 Argent Mortgage Indy Grand Prix
Last race 2012 Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio

Giorgio Pantano (born 4 February 1979) is an Italian professional racing driver who drove for the Jordan Formula One team for much of the 2004 season before being replaced by Timo Glock. He was also successful in Formula 3000.

He raced in the GP2 Series from its inaugural year in 2005 until his championship campaign in 2008, holding the record for most races competed and most races won in the series. As of 2011, these records have been taken over by Luca Filippi (86 starts) and Pastor Maldonado (10 wins) respectively.

Career

Early years

Born in Padua, Pantano is the holder of one of the best records ever in karting, where he started at age nine. Nico Rosberg grew up with a poster of Pantano on his bedroom wall and later would describe the Italian as being "probably the best of all time in karts."[1] Fernando Alonso once called Pantano "invincible" and that in karting he had looked up to him as being "a really incredible talent."[1]

In his first year in Cadet karting he achieved the Italian and European titles. In 1994 he won the Italian and World titles in Junior karting and in 1995 and 1996 won the European Formula A title. In 1996 he was signed by AMG-Mercedes, from where he went through a difficult patch to enter Formula One racing. He entered the winter series of Palmer Audi in 1999 and tested for the Astromega Formula 3000 team before signing for the KMS team that would take him to race in Formula Three in his first year of single-seater racing. He won his first race and went on to win the title.

Pantano driving for Jordan at the 2004 French Grand Prix.

F3000

His first taste of Formula One came in 2000, when he was tested by Benetton. However, he joined Astromega in Formula 3000 in 2001 and won at Monza. That same year he tested for McLaren. In 2002 he tested for Williams and Minardi, but was unable to break into Formula One, so he signed for the Durango team and won two races in the International Formula 3000 series in 2003, which earned him third place in the championship. He nearly spent 2003 in Champ Car, but the BC Motorsports team with whom he believed he had a contract proved to be fake.

Formula One

Pantano had been all set to make his Formula One debut for Jaguar, however two days before he was due to sign with the squad they concluded a deal with Christian Klien, who was able to bring $10million of funding from Red Bull.[1] The Italian instead signed for the Jordan Formula One team in early 2004, and after minimal testing his season proved troublesome. He finished last in his first race in Melbourne, while his more experienced team-mate Nick Heidfeld, retired with a transmission problem. He continued racing, never managing to qualify or finish any higher than around the back of the field, and retiring on several occasions, failing to grab much attention. He was replaced for a one-off by German debutant Timo Glock (due to financial reasons) at the Canadian Grand Prix, who scored two points finishing seventh, ahead of team-mate Nick Heidfeld who was eighth. Pantano returned to his seat in the team for the next race in Indianapolis, but went out at the first corner after colliding with other drivers. He continued with more disappointing results until the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, after which he was replaced by Timo Glock for the remaining three races of the season. Pantano later divulged that it had been his own choice to stop racing with Jordan due to the financial burden placed on his family and his own feelings that the team was favouring his team-mate Heidfeld over him.[1] Pantano was linked to returning to Formula One in 2010 with Campos Meta but the team confirmed that Bruno Senna and Karun Chandhok would be joining the team.

GP2 and IndyCar

After his unsuccessful season in Formula One, he left the series. In 2005 he raced in the inaugural GP2 Series season for the SuperNova team, alongside Adam Carroll of Northern Ireland, who defied expectations by outpacing Pantano. He also drove in the Indy Racing League for Chip Ganassi Racing in the two road-course races in the 2005 season. The team scaled back to two cars for 2006, signing champion Dan Wheldon alongside Scott Dixon. Pantano had several off-season Champ Car tests for PKV Racing and Mi-Jack Conquest Racing but they failed to result in a ride for the season and Pantano sat out most of the early part of the new season before finding a new lease of life in Giancarlo Fisichella's GP2 team FMS. After a crash on his first time back, Pantano impressed in the car, his experience gaining him solid points-scoring finishes in the second half of the season, including three wins. He raced for ex-Formula One driver Adrián Campos's team in 2007. On 30 June he claimed the team's maiden victory in the series, winning a chaotic feature race in France.

For the 2008 season he signed to partner Spaniard Javier Villa at the Racing Engineering team. Pantano started the season well, taking fourth and third positions in the Spanish feature and sprint races respectively. Things were even better in the Turkish feature race, for which he took pole and won the race. After a measured drive to fourth in the sprint race Pantano led the championship, but lost the lead to Bruno Senna following two retirements in Monaco. However he retook the lead following a win at the French feature race, in which Senna retired. Despite retirement in the sprint race Pantano left France with the championship lead. Following further feature race wins in both Britain and Germany Pantano increased his championship lead over Senna.

A bad weekend in Hungary dented his advantage but he bounced back with pole for the feature race at the new Valencia street circuit. Having led the whole race in dominant style Pantano faced the heartbreak of running out of fuel on the last lap, handing victory to Vitaly Petrov. However, Senna also ran out of fuel, and thus Pantano's lead was undamaged. With Senna retiring again in the sprint race, where Pantano finished third, the Italian held a 13-point lead in the series with two rounds remaining. At Spa-Francorchamps he qualified fourth, before a mechanical problem under the safety car dropped him down the order. Attempting to fight back, he spun at La Source with two laps to go, before running into Lucas di Grassi at the same corner on the final lap, causing him to be disqualified. At Monza, he took the GP2 crown, in spite of finishing 10th. His nearest rival Bruno Senna only finished fifth, thus handing Pantano the crown.

At the Silverstone race, Pantano became the most successful driver of all time in the F1 feeder championships (F2 / F3000 / GP2). His win in the Saturday race gave him a cumulative F3000/GP2 win tally of 14, taking him above the 13 F2/F3000 championship wins of Mike Thackwell and 12 European championship Formula Two wins of Jochen Rindt. (If non-championship wins are included, Rindt and other drivers exceed this total). Pantano's Silverstone win was his eighth in the GP2 Series, making him also the most successful driver in GP2 history.[2]

Superleague Formula

Unable to find a drive in Formula One and unable to return to GP2 as former champions are not permitted, Pantano joined up with Superleague Formula to drive the A.C. Milan entry.[3] Pantano won one race for A.C. Milan at the Magny-Cours round.[4]

After 2010

Pantano's McLaren MP4-12C from the 2014 Blancpain Sprint Series

Pantano was linked to a return to the IndyCar Series in 2010, driving a Panther Racing entry.[5] He instead signed on to drive in Auto GP for Super Nova Racing, finishing 13th in the championship.[6]

Pantano returned to the IndyCar Series in 2011 as an injury replacement for Justin Wilson in races at Sonoma and Baltimore,[7] and did not consider to racing again in Europe in the near future.[8]

Pantano made a brief return to IndyCar in 2012, racing at the 2012 Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio for Chip Ganassi Racing. He finished 14th after qualifying in 24th place.[9] In 2013 Pantano competed in the International GT Open GTS class and won the championship with three wins and five podium finishes in 13 races.[6] He subsequently switched to the Blancpain Sprint Series for 2014, sharing a Bhaitech-run McLaren MP4-12C with Fabio Onidi, with a view to pursuing a career as a sportscar racer.[10] He also secured a drive at the 2014 Spa 24 Hours for Thierry Boutsen's Boutsen Ginion team, sharing a McLaren with Frédéric Vervisch, Olivier Grotz and Karim Ojjeh.[11]

Racing record

Complete International Formula 3000 results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 DC Points
2001 Team Astromega INT
Ret
IMO
11
CAT
9
A1R
15
MON
Ret
NÜR
21
MAG
8
SIL
Ret
HOC
7
HUN
5
SPA
11
MNZ
1
9th 12
2002 Coloni F3000 INT
8
IMO
3
CAT
1
A1R
4
MON
Ret
NÜR
Ret
SIL
4
MAG
3
HOC
1
HUN
2
SPA
1
MNZ
3
2nd 54
2003 Durango IMO
Ret
CAT
1
A1R
3
MON
Ret
NÜR
16
MAG
1
SIL
2
HOC
7
HUN
4
MNZ
Ret
3rd 41

Complete Formula One results

(key)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 WDC Points
2004 Jordan Ford Jordan EJ14 Ford V10 AUS
14
MAL
13
BHR
16
SMR
Ret
ESP
Ret
MON
Ret
EUR
13
CAN
DNP
USA
Ret
FRA
17
GBR
Ret
GER
15
HUN
Ret
BEL
Ret
ITA
Ret
CHN JPN BRA 24th 0

American open–wheel racing results

(key)

IndyCar Series

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Year Team Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Rank Points
2005 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Panoz Toyota HMS PHX STP MOT INDY TXS RIR KAN NSH MIL MCH KTY PPIR SNM
14
CHI WGL
4
FON 26th 48
2011 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Dallara Honda STP ALA LBH SAO INDY TXS TXS MIL IOW TOR EDM MDO NHM SNM
17
BAL
26
MOT
16
KTY LVS 34th 37
2012 Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara DW12 Honda STP ALA LBH SAO INDY DET TXS MIL IOW TOR EDM MDO
14
SNM BAL FON 31st 16

Complete GP2 Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 DC Points
2005 Super Nova Racing IMO
FEA

13
IMO
SPR

Ret
CAT
FEA

13
CAT
SPR

14
MON
FEA

Ret
NÜR
FEA

2
NÜR
SPR

7
MAG
FEA

10
MAG
SPR

7
SIL
FEA

12
SIL
SPR

7
HOC
FEA

6
HOC
SPR

2
HUN
FEA

3
HUN
SPR

3
IST
FEA

2
IST
SPR

8
MNZ
FEA

6
MNZ
SPR

3
SPA
FEA

NC
SPA
SPR

11
BHR
FEA

5
BHR
SPR

5
6th 49
2006 Petrol Ofisi FMS International VAL
FEA
VAL
SPR
IMO
FEA
IMO
SPR
NÜR
FEA
NÜR
SPR
CAT
FEA

9
CAT
SPR

7
MON
FEA

Ret
SIL
FEA

5
SIL
SPR

4
MAG
FEA

6
MAG
SPR

1
HOC
FEA

4
HOC
SPR

5
HUN
FEA

3
HUN
SPR

13
IST
FEA

Ret
IST
SPR

Ret
MNZ
FEA

1
MNZ
SPR

1
5th 44
2007 Campos Grand Prix BHR
FEA

DNS
BHR
SPR

Ret
CAT
FEA

Ret
CAT
SPR

6
MON
FEA

2
MAG
FEA

1
MAG
SPR

3
SIL
FEA

Ret
SIL
SPR

8
NÜR
FEA

4
NÜR
SPR

7
HUN
FEA

Ret
HUN
SPR

7
IST
FEA

2
IST
SPR

12
MNZ
FEA

1
MNZ
SPR

DSQ
SPA
FEA

Ret
SPA
SPR

14
VAL
FEA

2
VAL
SPR

5
3rd 59
2008 Racing Engineering CAT
FEA

4
CAT
SPR

3
IST
FEA

1
IST
SPR

4
MON
FEA

Ret
MON
SPR

Ret
MAG
FEA

1
MAG
SPR

Ret
SIL
FEA

1
SIL
SPR

3
HOC
FEA

1
HOC
SPR

Ret
HUN
FEA

14
HUN
SPR

5
VAL
FEA

14
VAL
SPR

3
SPA
FEA

DSQ
SPA
SPR

EX
MNZ
FEA

10
MNZ
SPR

5
1st 76

Superleague Formula

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Rank Pts
2009 A.C. Milan
Azerti Motorsport
MAG
12
MAG
1
ZOL
5
ZOL
11
DON
4
DON
17
EST
6
EST
6
MOZ
15
MOZ
11
JAR
3
JAR
14
7th 286

Super Final Results

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6
2009 A.C. Milan
Azerti Motorsport
MAG
2
ZOL
N/A
DON
DNQ
EST
6
MOZ
N/A
JAR
DNQ

Complete Auto GP Results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pos Points
2010 Super Nova Racing BRN
1

Ret
BRN
2

9
IMO
1

11
IMO
2

9
SPA
1

3
SPA
2

6
13th 8
Euronova Racing MAG
1

13
MAG
2

11
NAV
1
NAV
2
Ombra Racing MNZ
1

12
MNZ
2

Ret

Complete Blancpain Sprint Series results

Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Pos. Points
2014 Bhaitech McLaren MP4-12C GT3 Pro NOG
QR

11
NOG
CR

8
BRH
QR

8
BRH
CR

16
ZAN
QR

13
ZAN
CR

Ret
SVK
QR

Ret
SVK
CR

Ret
ALG
QR

Ret
ALG
CR

10
ZOL
QR

7
ZOL
CR

6
BAK
QR

12
BAK
CR

7
14th 19

* Season still in progress.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 The Man That F1 Forgot — F1 Racing Magazine — January 2011 - Will Buxton
  2. GPWeek GPweek.com Issue 17: July 7. Page 11, "Pantano Sets New Record." - Will Buxton
  3. Superleagueformula.com
  4. http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=334586&FS=OPENWHEEL
  5. IRL Winter Meeting marks start of preparations in earnest, Indianapolis Star, January 8, 2010
  6. 1 2 "Giorgio Pantano". FIA Formula E Championship. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  7. http://www.indystar.com/article/20110815/SPORTS01/108150346/New-IndyCar-engine-15-mph-quicker-road-courses?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|IndyStar.com|s
  8. http://www.f1web.it/?p=12407|text|F1WEB.it
  9. Simbeni, Giuseppe (12 August 2012). "Never give up!". GiorgioPantano.it. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
  10. Watkins, Gary (15 April 2014). "Former F1 driver Pantano to race a McLaren in Blancpain series". autosport.com. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  11. "Blancpain Endurance 24h Spa : Giorgio Pantano joins our team on the #15 !". Boutsen Ginion Racing. 18 July 2014. Retrieved 10 September 2014.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Giorgio Pantano.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Christijan Albers
German Formula Three champion
2000
Succeeded by
Toshihiro Kaneishi
Preceded by
Timo Glock
GP2 Series
Drivers' Champion

2008
Succeeded by
Nico Hülkenberg
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