1. Gary Paffett was a test driver for the Williams Formula One team, having previously worked in a similar role at McLaren for a number of years, during the team's successful title winning years.
19 Facts About Gary Paffett
1. 2.
Gary Paffett progressed through the ranks of karting and junior formulae in the United Kingdom, winning the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award in 1999.
3.
In 1993, Gary Paffett joined the British Cadet Championships and earned himself a respectable third place.
4.
Gary Paffett set a track record which had never before been set by any "B" class car.
5.
Gary Paffett got promoted to the Formula Vauxhall Junior and won the championship with two track records, four wins, five fastest laps, three pole positions.
6.
For 2003, Gary signed to drive for the new Brand Motorsport team in F3000, but the team withdrew from the series leaving Paffett and his team-mate Nicolas Minassian without drives.
7.
Gary Paffett was then champion the following year with five wins and four pole positions.
8.
In 2007, Gary Paffett returned to the DTM in a 2006 specification race car for the Persson Motorsport team alongside his McLaren F1 testing duties.
9.
At the second round at Oschersleben, Gary Paffett became the first driver in the history of the series to win in a year old car.
10.
From here on, the Mercedes proved a very good car all through the season and with taking 3 wins and further 7 podiums, Gary Paffett was at or very near the top of the table all season.
11.
However, due to the arrival of GP2 Champion, Lewis Hamilton, Gary Paffett was overlooked for the drive.
12.
Gary Paffett publicly stated that he was looking for a Formula One race seat for 2008, and was linked with the abortive Prodrive F1 project for that season.
13.
However, Prodrive failed to make it to the grid so Gary Paffett stayed with McLaren as a test driver.
14.
Gary Paffett was signed as Force India's reserve driver for the 2012 Australian Grand Prix as regular reserve driver Jules Bianchi was unavailable due to Formula Renault 3.5 Series testing commitments.
15.
On 17 November 2014, it was announced that Gary Paffett would leave McLaren at the end of the 2014 season.
16.
For 2016, Gary Paffett signed on with Williams as a simulator driver, alongside his duties in DTM.
17.
Gary Paffett is a highly professional racing driver and his level of testing knowledge, and ability to analyse data, will significantly help to drive forward development of the FW38 throughout the season.
18.
Gary Paffett finished the season 19th in the driver's standings after scoring points in Hong Kong, Paris and New York City.
19.
Gary Paffett moved into a management role within the team, working as a sporting and technical advisor, while being a test and reserve driver.