Pantano looking to America

Pantano, who won his first GP2 race last time out at Magny Cours, regrets having signed for Jordan in 2004 and now believes his Formula One aspirations have finished.

Instead, he and his manager David Sears are looking at Champ Car or IndyCars for his long-term future. The Italian drove for Ganassi in the IRL's two road course races last season.

"It won't be GP2 taking me back to F1, only my budget," Pantano told Autosprint. "If you have 10 million dollars then all of a sudden you are wanted and you become a star. Only the ones in a certain clique go from GP2 to F1.

"F1 ruined it all. If there's something I wouldn't do again in my career is to sign for Jordan. It was a problem-filled year.

"A driver works his entire life to reach F1, understands that he's up to it, and then for other people's faults he's cut off and all that effort gets destroyed in an instant.

"It's terrible. I know I could do well in F1 with the right conditions, but it seems like I'm not going to get the right chance, so I better put my heart at rest and look elsewhere, to America, where I can become a professional driver.

"David spoke with everyone and had a long chat with [Kevin] Kalkhoven at Toronto, who is the boss of the series and manager of a PKV. We are waiting, but I'm confident.

"Between Champ Car and Indycar I prefer the former."