26 Facts About Giorgio Pantano

Giorgio Pantano was born on 4 February 1979 and is an Italian former professional racing driver who drove for the Jordan Formula One team for much of the 2004 season before being replaced by Timo Glock.

Giorgio Pantano retired from racing at the end of 2014.

Giorgio Pantano 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.

Giorgio Pantano 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.

Giorgio Pantano won his first race and went on to win the title.

Giorgio Pantano nearly spent 2003 in Champ Car, but the BC Motorsports team with whom he believed he had a contract proved to be fake.

Giorgio 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 $10 million of funding from Red Bull.

Giorgio Pantano finished last in his first race in Australia, while his more experienced teammate Nick Heidfeld, retired with a transmission problem.

Giorgio Pantano 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.

Giorgio Pantano was replaced for a one-off by German debutant Timo Glock at the Canadian Grand Prix, who scored two points finishing seventh, ahead of teammate Nick Heidfeld who was eighth.

Giorgio Pantano returned to his seat in the team for the next race in United States, but went out at the first corner after colliding with other drivers.

Giorgio Pantano 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.

Giorgio 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 teammate Heidfeld over him.

Giorgio 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.

Giorgio Pantano drove in the Indy Racing League for Chip Ganassi Racing in the two road-course races in the 2005 season.

Giorgio 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 Giorgio 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.

Giorgio Pantano raced for ex-Formula One driver Adrian Campos's team in 2007.

Giorgio Pantano started the season well, taking fourth and third positions in the Catalunya feature and sprint races respectively.

However, Senna ran out of fuel, and thus Giorgio Pantano's lead was undamaged.

At the Silverstone race, Giorgio Pantano became the most successful driver of all time in the F1 feeder championships.

Giorgio Pantano was linked to a return to the IndyCar Series in 2010, driving a Panther Racing entry.

Giorgio Pantano instead signed on to drive in Auto GP for Super Nova Racing, finishing 13th in the championship.

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

Giorgio Pantano made a brief return to IndyCar in 2012, racing at the 2012 Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio for Chip Ganassi Racing.

In 2013 Giorgio Pantano competed in the International GT Open GTS class and won the championship with three wins and five podium finishes in 13 races.

Giorgio Pantano secured a drive at the 2014 Spa 24 Hours for Thierry Boutsen's Boutsen Ginion team, sharing a McLaren with Frederic Vervisch, Olivier Grotz and Karim Ojjeh.