Pantano exit could go to court.

Giorgio Pantano's early release by the Jordan team could be contested in court, the Italian's management company has confirmed.

Jordan replaced Pantano with German Timo Glock for the inaugural Chinese Grand Prix, claiming that its contract with the Italian had 'been terminated'. Speculation suggests that the 'sacking' was over a repeat of the sponsorship shortfall that caused Pantano to be stood down from the Canadian GP, again in favour of Glock, but this time there appears to be no way back for the former F3000 frontrunner, particularly as he has yet to contribute to the team's points tally.

However, the tale could yet have another twist, as Brask Management and Pantano Motor Sport chairman Lars-Christian Brask suggested that the matter was far from settled, and could wind up with some sort of legal action taking place.

"My first thought is to say 'no comments'," he said in a statement, "but it wouldn't be fair to our operation, professionalism and the facts. The facts are that a contract and agreements have been broken.

"I prefer to solve issues like this commercially but, in this case, it is a complex situation and all the facts are not obvious to the public. The most likely outcome is that we have to go through the courts to protect our investment and our driver's rights. We are preparing our case at the moment and I think it is best to rest the comments with that."

It would not be the first time that Brask has threatened legal action on Pantano's behalf, having taken F3000 team Super Nova to court after the Italian missed out on a seat in its 2002 line-up, despite apparently having signed a contract.