Pantano bemoans F1 'indifference'

Pantano: Abandoned

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GP2 champion Giorgio Pantano has bemoaned the lack of interest Formula One teams are currently showing in him.

The Italian claimed the feeder series title ahead of the likes of Bruno Senna, Lucas di Grassi and Sebastien Buemi - drivers who have all since tested for F1 teams.

The 29-year-old, who drove for Jordan back in 2004, said he felt "abandoned" by the F1 fraternity despite his record in junior formulae.

"I would just like someone to let me test an F1 car. Once the test is done, they'd tell me whether I could be a possible World Champion or not. That would give me peace of mind," Pantano told Autosprint.

"I just want a credible test, a real chance that puts me in the conditions of being properly assessed.

He added: "I challenge anyone to have a CV as good as mine. I won two karting world titles, three European, three Italian, German F3, GP2 and was always at the front in F3000. But now I don't have a seat in F1, is this a joke?

"That's what it's like now, if you don't get in touch with people, no-one looks for you. I feel abandoned."

Predicament

Senna, di Grassi and Buemi have all tested for Toro Rosso and Honda - the only two teams yet to confirm their driver line-ups for the 2009 season.

Pantano added that F1 commercial rights controller Bernie Ecclestone appeared the person most concerned about his predicament.

"The only person behaving fairly has been Ecclestone. I called him a few days ago and after ten minutes he called me back. The only real drives still available are at Honda and Toro Rosso. Bernie told me that if anything moves, I'll be the first to know," he said.

"But I feel total indifference towards me. I read of Senna and Buemi but, really, what have they done? At this point, a guy in my situation must think that being a racing driver is not advantageous, doing another job would be better."

Hitherto, each driver to take the GP2 title since the series' inception in 2005 - Nico Rosberg, Lewis Hamilton and Timo Glock - has graduated to F1.