After successful years in F3000 with Astromega and Coloni, Giorgio Pantano was expected to be one of the revelations of the season. He wasn't.
He was probably about as bad as he could have been. He was able to outqualify the Minardi's, but rarely anything more. He was dumped by the team before Canada for failing to pay his sponsorship money, but was back in time for the next race. Not before his replacement Timo Glock, a fellow rookie, had taken a couple of points at his expense. Pantano failed to improve in the next few races, resulting in his sacking three races from the end of the year.