Giorgio Pantano
Giorgio Pantano | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 4, 1979 Conselve, Italy |
| Occupation | Racing driver |
| Years active | 1999–2014 |
| Known for | Competed in Formula One (2004), GP2 Series champion (2008) |
Giorgio Pantano (born 4 February 1979) is a retired Italian professional racing driver who competed with the Jordan Formula One team during the 2004 season before being replaced by Timo Glock. His career also included participation in Formula 3000, and he retired from competitive racing at the close of 2014.
Pantano took part in the GP2 Series from its launch in 2005 through to his championship victory in 2008. He once held the records for the highest number of races entered and most wins within the series until those were overtaken by Luca Filippi (86 starts) and Pastor Maldonado (10 victories) as of the 2011 season.
Early years
Originating from Conselve, near Padua, Pantano boasts an outstanding karting record, having begun competing at nine years old. He earned high praise from peers such as Nico Rosberg, who described him as "probably the best of all time in karts," while Fernando Alonso labeled him "invincible" and "a truly remarkable talent."
During his debut year in Cadet karting, Pantano secured both the Italian and European championships. In 1994, he claimed titles in both Italian and World Junior karting categories, followed by victories in the European Formula A championships in 1995 and 1996. After signing with AMG-Mercedes in 1996, he encountered difficulties transitioning to Formula One. He competed in the 1999 winter series of Formula Palmer Audi and conducted testing for Astromega’s Formula 3000 squad before moving to KMS for Formula Three, where he won his first race and captured the championship.
F3000
Pantano’s first involvement with Formula One came in 2000 when he tested for Benetton. The following year, he raced with Astromega in Formula 3000, achieving victory at Monza and participating in a test for McLaren. In 2002, he undertook testing sessions with Williams and Minardi, but without securing a Formula One seat, he joined Durango for the International Formula 3000 campaign in 2003, winning twice and finishing third overall. A planned transition to Champ Car with BC Motorsports was aborted when it was revealed that the team was fraudulent.
Formula One
Pantano was initially slated to make his Formula One debut with Jaguar, but the team opted for Christian Klien, who brought $10 million backing from Red Bull. Consequently, Pantano signed with Jordan early in 2004. With limited pre-season testing, his debut year proved challenging; he finished last at the Australian Grand Prix, while teammate Nick Heidfeld retired. Throughout the season, Pantano struggled to qualify well or finish ahead of the back markers and suffered multiple retirements. Financial difficulties led to a single-race replacement by German rookie Timo Glock at the Canadian Grand Prix, where Glock scored two points, finishing ahead of Heidfeld. Pantano returned for the subsequent event but crashed at the opening corner. Following continued unsatisfactory performances, he was replaced by Glock for the final three races. Pantano later disclosed that financial pressures on his family and perceptions that the team prioritized Heidfeld contributed to his exit. Although linked to a potential comeback with Campos Meta in , the team ultimately confirmed Bruno Senna and Karun Chandhok as their drivers instead.
GP2 and IndyCar
Following a challenging stint in Formula One, Pantano departed the series and took part in the first-ever GP2 Series season in 2005, driving for SuperNova alongside teammate Adam Carroll, who outperformed him. That same year, he also competed in two road course events within the Indy Racing League for Chip Ganassi Racing. In 2006, Ganassi reduced his team to two cars, signing champion Dan Wheldon and Scott Dixon. Pantano underwent off-season testing with PKV Racing and Mi-Jack Conquest Racing in Champ Car but failed to secure a seat, leading to a largely inactive early season before joining FMS, Giancarlo Fisichella’s GP2 outfit. Despite a crash upon returning, Pantano accumulated respectable points and achieved three victories during the latter part of the campaign. The following year, he competed for ex-Formula One driver Adrián Campos’ squad, earning their first GP2 triumph at Magny-Cours.
In 2008, Pantano teamed up with Spanish driver Javier Villa at Racing Engineering. He commenced the season strongly with podium placements at Catalunya and converted pole position into victory at Istanbul Park. Although initially leading the championship, retirements in Monaco allowed Bruno Senna to close the gap; however, Pantano reclaimed the lead by winning the Magny-Cours feature race after Senna’s retirement. Further feature race victories at Silverstone and Hockenheimring extended his advantage.
A disappointing weekend at Hungaroring diminished his lead, but Pantano rebounded by securing pole position at Valencia. While controlling the race from the front, he ran out of fuel on the final lap, conceding victory to Vitaly Petrov. Nevertheless, Senna also suffered fuel depletion, preserving Pantano’s points lead. With Senna retiring again in the sprint race where Pantano finished third, he maintained a 13-point cushion heading into the last two rounds. At Spa-Francorchamps, mechanical problems and collisions culminated in disqualification following a spin involving Lucas di Grassi. Despite finishing tenth at Monza, Pantano clinched the GP2 championship as his closest rival Senna finished fifth.
Pantano set a new benchmark as the most victorious driver across Formula One feeder series history (F2/F3000/GP2), with his Silverstone triumph marking his 14th career win—surpassing records previously held by Mike Thackwell and Jochen Rindt. His eighth GP2 victory also established him as the most successful competitor in GP2's history.
Superleague Formula
Unable to secure another Formula One opportunity or return to GP2 due to restrictions imposed on former champions, Pantano joined Superleague Formula, representing the A.C. Milan entry. During this tenure, he claimed a race win at the Magny-Cours event.
After 2010
Although linked with a potential 2010 comeback to the IndyCar Series with Panther Racing, Pantano instead competed in Auto GP for Super Nova Racing, concluding the season 13th overall.
He returned to IndyCar competition in 2011 as an injury substitute for Justin Wilson at Sonoma and Baltimore, stating no immediate intention to resume racing in Europe.
In 2012, Pantano participated in the 2012 Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio with Chip Ganassi Racing, finishing 14th after qualifying 24th. The subsequent year saw him secure the International GT Open GTS class title with three wins and five podium finishes across thirteen races.
Transitioning to sportscar racing in 2014, Pantano joined the Blancpain Sprint Series, sharing a Bhaitech-entered McLaren MP4-12C alongside Fabio Onidi. He also competed in the 2014 Spa 24 Hours with Thierry Boutsen’s Boutsen Ginion team, co-driving a McLaren with Frédéric Vervisch, Olivier Grotz, and Karim Ojjeh.
Career overview
|||Blancpain Endurance Series – Pro-Am |||Boutsen Ginion Racing |||1 |||0 |||0 |||0 |||0 |||NC| Season | Championship | Team | Events | Victories | Pole positions | Fastest laps | Podium finishes | Points scored | Final standing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Euro Open by Nissan | Tecno Dinamica Attiva | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 21st |
| British Formula Three Championship | Target Racing | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC | |
| Formula Palmer Audi Winter Series | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 52 | 3rd | ||
| 2000 | German Formula Three Championship | Opel Team KMS | 20 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 10 | 205 | 1st |
| Formula One | Mild Seven Benetton Playlife | Test Driver | |||||||
| 2001 | International Formula 3000 | Team Astromega | 12 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 12 | 9th |
| Formula One | West McLaren Mercedes | Test Driver | |||||||
| 2002 | International Formula 3000 | Coloni F3000 | 12 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 54 | 2nd |
| 2002 Formula One World Championship | align=left | Williams Grand Prix Engineering#BMW WilliamsF1 Team | colspan=7 | Test Driver | |||||||
| 2003 | align=left | 2003 International Formula 3000 Championship | align=left | Durango | 10 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 41 | style="background:#FFDF9F;" | 3rd |
| 2004 | align=left | 2004 Formula One World Championship | align=left | Jordan Grand Prix | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24th |
| 2005 | align=left | 2005 GP2 Series | align=left | Super Nova Racing | 23 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 49 | 6th |
| align=left | 2005 IndyCar Series | align=left | Chip Ganassi Racing | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 48 | 26th | |
| 2006 | align=left | 2006 GP2 Series | align=left | Scuderia Coloni (FMS International) | 15 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 44 | 5th |
| 2007 | align=left | 2007 GP2 Series | align=left | Campos Racing | 21 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 59 | style="background:#FFDF9F;" | 3rd |
| 2008 | align=left | 2008 GP2 Series | align=left | Racing Engineering | 19 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 7 | (76) | (style="background:#FBFFBF;") 1st |
| align=left | 2008 International GT Open – GTS | align=left | Scuderia Latorre | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 25th | |
| 2009 | align=left | 2009 Superleague Formula season | align=left | A.C. Milan | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 286 | 7th |
| align=left | 2009 Eurocup Mégane Trophy | align=left | Oregon Team | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 28 | 11th | |
| 2010 | align=left | 2010 Auto GP Series | align=left | Super Nova Racing | 10 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 13th |
| align=left | Trofeo Abarth Italia | align=left | Forza Service | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 43 | 9th | |
| 2011 | align=left | 2011 IndyCar Series | align=left | Dreyer & Reinbold Racing | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 37 | 36th |
| 2012 | align=left | 2012 IndyCar Series | align=left | Chip Ganassi Racing | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 31st |
| 2013 | align=left | 2013 International GT Open – GTS | align=left | Bhaitech | 15 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 5 | (56) | (style="background:#FBFFBF;") 1st |
2014
|||Blancpain GT Sprint Series – Pro |||Bhaitech |||13 |||0 |||0 |||0 |||0 |||19 |||14th | |||||||||
Full Euro Open by Nissan Results
(key)
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Final Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Tecno Dinamica Attiva | ALB 1 |
ALB 2 |
JER 1 |
JER 2 |
JAR 1 |
JAR 2 |
MNZ 1 Retired |
MNZ 2 10th |
JAR 1 15th |
JAR 2 12th |
DON 1 8th |
DON 2 8th |
CAT 1 |
CAT 2 |
VAL 1 |
VAL 2 |
21st | 7 |
Full German Formula Three Championship Results
(key)
| Year | Team | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | Final Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Opel Team KMS | Dallara F300 | Opel | ZOL 1 1st |
ZOL 2 2nd |
HOC1 < br >1 < br > 10th | HOC1 < br >2 < br > 2nd | OSC1 < br >1 < br > 4th | OSC1 < br >2 < br > 1st | NOR < br >1 < br > 2nd | NOR < br >2 < br > Retired | SAC < br >1 < br > 7th | SAC < br >2 < br > 2nd | NÜR1 < br >1 < br > Retired | NÜR1 < br >2 < br > 10th | LAU < br >1 < br > 3rd | LAU < br >2 < br > 5th | OSC2 < br >1 < br > 1st | OSC2 < br >2 < br > 2nd | NÜR2 < br >1 < br > 8th | NÜR2 < br >2 < br > 11th | style = " background:#dfffdf;" "">Hockenheimring HOC2 1 "4"
"">Hockenheimring HOC2 2 "3" |
style="background:#ffffbf;" !205 |
Full International Formula 3000 Results
(key) (Bolded races indicate pole position; italicized denote fastest lap.)
...| Year | Team Entrant | Race 1 | Race 2 | Race 3 | Race 4 | Race 5 | Race 6 | Race 7 | Race 8 | Race 9 | Race 10 | Race 11 | Race12 | Final Standing | Points Scored |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Team Astromega |
style="background:#EFCFFF;"| INT |
style="background:#CFCFFF;"| IMO |
style="background:#CFCFFF;"|''CAT |
style="background:#CFCFFF;"|' 'A1R |
style="background:#EFCFFF;"|''MON |
style="background:#CFCFFF;"|' 'NÜR |
style="background:#CFCFFF;"|''MAG |
style="background:#EFCFFF;"|''SIL |
style="background:#CFCFFF;"|''HOC |
style="background:#DFFFDF;"|' 'HUN |
style="background:#CFCFFF;"|''SPA |
style="background:#FBFFBF;"|''MNZ |
9th | 12 |
Complete Formula One Results
(key)
| Year | Team | Chassis | Engine | Races (selected) | Final Position | Points | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Template:F1\2004 | nowrap Jordan Grand Prix\Jordan Ford | nowrap Jordan EJ14 | nowrap Ford V10 |
style="background:#CFCFFF;" 2004 Australian Grand Prix\AUS |
style="background:#CFCFFF;" 2004 Malaysian Grand Prix\MAL |
style="background:#CFCFFF;" 2004 Bahrain Grand Prix\BHR |
style="background:#EFCFFF;" 2004 San Marino Grand Prix\SMR |
style="background:#EFCFFF;" 2004 Spanish Grand Prix\ESP |
style="background:#EFCFFF;" 2004 Monaco Grand Prix\MON |
style="background:#CFCFFF;" 2004 European Grand Prix\EUR |
style="background:;" 2004 Canadian Grand Prix\CAN |
style="background:#EFCFFF;" 2004 United States Grand Prix\USA |
style="background:#CFCFFF;" 2004 French Grand Prix\FRA |
style="background:#EFCFFF;" 2004 British Grand Prix\GBR |
style="background:#CFCFFF;" 2004 German Grand Prix\GER |
style="background:#EFCFFF;" 2004 Hungarian Grand Prix\HUN |
style="background:#EFCFFF;" 2004 Belgian Grand Prix\BEL |
style="background:#EFCFFF;" 2004 Italian Grand Prix\ITA |
24th |
0 |
Complete GP2 Series Results
(key) (Bold indicates pole position; italics denote fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Races (selected) | Final Standing | Points |
|---|
|
[[2005 GP2 Series]|2005] |
nowrap| Super Nova Racing |
style="background:#CFCFFF;"
\IMO |
style="background:#EFCFFF;"
\IMO |
... [remaining races omitted for brevity] |
6th |
49 |
|---|
|
Year |
Team |
Races (selected) |
Final Position |
Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
nowrap| Scuderia Coloni |
... |
5th |
44 |
|
Year |
Team |
Races (selected) |
Final Rank |
Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
nowrap Campos Grand Prix |
... |
3rd |
59 |
|
Year |
Team |
Races |
Final Position |
Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
nowrap Racing Engineering |
... |
Champion |
76 |
IndyCar Series
(Template:American Open Wheel driver results legend#key) (Bold indicates pole position)
| Year | Team | Car Number | Chassis | Engine | Selected Races | Ranking | Points |
|---|
|
10 |
Panoz |
Toyota |
... |
26th |
48 |
|---|
| - |
2011 IndyCar Series |
nowrap| Dreyer & Reinbold Racing |
22 |
Dallara |
Honda |
... |
36th |
37 |
|---|
|
2012 IndyCar Series |
nowrap| Chip Ganassi Racing |
83 |
Dallara DW12 |
Honda |
... |
31st |
16 |
|---|
Superleague Formula
| important Year | important Team | important Round_Results | important Final Ranking | important Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
[[2009 Superleague Formula season]|2009] |
nowrap|
A.C. Milan |
... |
7th |
286 |
Super Final Results
| - |
Year |
Team |
Round_Results |
|---|---|---|---|
|
[[2009 Superleague Formula season]|2009] |
nowrap| A.C. Milan (Azerti Motorsport) |
... |
Complete Auto GP Results
(Template:Motorsport driver results legend#key) (Bold signifies pole position, italics fastest lap)
rowspan=3| 2010 Auto GP Series| -
Year Entrant Round Results Final Position Points | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -
nowrap| Super Nova Racing |
... |
13th |
8 | ||
| --
nowrap| Fortec Italia Motorsport / Euronova Racing |
... |
- |
--
nowrap| Ombra Racing |
... |
- |
Complete International GT Open Results
| -
Year Team Car Model Class Category Race Results Final Standing Points Earned | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
2013 International GT Open |
-
nowrap| Bhai Tech Racing |
-
nowrap| McLaren MP4-12C GT3 |
- GTS |
... |
Champion |
56 |
Complete Blancpain Sprint Series Results
| -
Year Team Car Model Class Category Race Finishes Final Rank Points Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
2014 GT Sprint Series |
-
Bhaitech |
-
nowrap | McLaren MP4-12C GT3 |
- Pro |
... |
14th |
19 |
External links
- Pages with script errors
- Articles with short description
- Articles with hCards
- No local image but image on Wikidata
- 1979 births
- Living people
- Italian racing drivers
- Italian Formula One drivers
- Jordan Formula One drivers
- IndyCar Series drivers
- International Formula 3000 drivers
- GP2 Series drivers
- GP2 Series Champions
- Auto GP drivers
- German Formula Three Championship drivers
- Formula Palmer Audi drivers
- Karting World Championship drivers
- Eurocup Mégane Trophy drivers
- International GT Open drivers
- GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup drivers
- 24 Hours of Spa drivers
- Superleague Formula drivers
- Super Nova Racing drivers
- Scuderia Coloni drivers
- Campos Racing drivers
- Racing Engineering drivers
- Chip Ganassi Racing drivers
- Dreyer & Reinbold Racing drivers
- Team Astromega drivers
- Durango (racing team) drivers
- Euronova Racing drivers
- Ombra Racing drivers
- Bhaitech drivers
- Prema Powerteam drivers
- British Formula Three Championship drivers
- Boutsen Ginion Racing drivers
- Sportspeople from Padua