Pantano impressed with McLaren work ethic.

Italian star Giorgio Pantano completed the second day of a two-day test with the McLaren Formula One team at their exclusive test at Jerez in Spain on Wednesday, and spoke highly of what he found.

The multiple kart champion, and reigning German F3 titleist, was extremely happy and complimentary with and of the car and
the team, after two days running alongside McLaren's regular line-up of David Coulthard, Mika Hakkinen and Alex Wurz. The trio were also joined by occasional tester Darren Turner and British youngster Gary Paffett, who had a run in the car as part of his
prize for winning the 1999 McLaren Autosport BRDC Young Driver Award.

"The McLaren team were very professional and friendly. Their attention to detail and the effort they put in was an eye-opener in what effort goes into running a top team in F1," Pantano reported, no doubt comparing his outing with those he received with Benetton last year. The Italian was also slated to run with Prost before Christmas, but the test never materialised.

Having completed his run with McLaren, Pantano reverted to preparing for his season in F3000, and was testing with the Belgian Astromega team in Valencia towards the end of the week.