Jordan Confident Pantano Deal will be Completed Today

Jordan expect Italian Giorgio Pantano will be signed as the Formula One team's second driver on Wednesday.

"We are just waiting for everything to fall into line," Ian Phillips, the team's director of business development, told Reuters. He confirmed the team had received assurances from Pantano's management the necessary sponsorship would be in place by Wednesday.

"Until that is in place the deal is technically still not done of course, but we are confident it will be."

Team sources expected an announcement later in the day. Pantano said on Tuesday he was 99 percent certain of securing the last remaining seat for the Championship starting in Australia on March 7.

Jordan have already signed Germany's Nick Heidfeld. All the other teams have finalised their line-ups.

The Guardian newspaper said Pantano, who tested the new Jordan EJ14 at Jerez in Spain on Tuesday, was bringing backing worth around $5.5 million but Phillips dismissed the figure as inaccurate.

Pantano, 25, was German Formula Three champion in 2000 and has tested for McLaren, Williams and Benetton in the past but lacked sufficient sponsorship to secure a race seat. Jordan have made no secret that whoever gets the drive will have to bring some sponsorship with him.

Briton Allan McNish, who announced earlier a return to sportscars and the Le Mans 24-Hours race, was in the running for the Jordan seat but said money was a sticking point.

"I would have loved to have raced with Jordan but it was clear the team required a guy who could bring a lot of funding with him," McNish told British newspapers. "I've always believed in what I can do and not what I can buy."