Giorgio Pantano has admitted his recently-won GP2 championship is unlikely to lead to a career in formula one.
If his fears are confirmed, the 29-year-old would be the only GP2 champion, in the company of Nico Rosberg (2005), Lewis Hamilton (2006) and Timo Glock (2007), who has not gone on to secure a seat in the premier category.
In the pages of the Italian magazine Autosprint, the frustrated Italian slammed the situation as a "joke", where contenders he defeated in 2008 - Bruno Senna and Sebastien Buemi - appear poised to make their grand prix debuts.
"I feel total indifference towards me. I read of Senna and Buemi but, really, what have they done?
"At this point, a guy in my situation must think that being a racing driver is not advantageous, doing another job would be better," said Pantano.
It appears that not only Pantano's age played against him in the eyes of F1 team bosses.
He actually made his F1 debut for the uncompetitive Jordan team in 2004, before being replaced near the end of the season.
Prior to his abortive Jordan tenure, Pantano had tests with Williams, McLaren and Renault.
Pantano charged: "Money is becoming the priority in order to race, talent doesn't exist any more."
He said the only figure in the F1 paddock who has not "abandoned" him is F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone, who spoke with Pantano on the phone a few days ago.
"The only real drives still available are at Honda and Toro Rosso," he said. "Bernie told me that if anything moves, I'll be the first to know."
