Gary Paffett

Gary Paffett

Nation:	Great Britain
DTM
First race:	Nürburgring 2003
Last race:	Hockenheim II 2018
Teams (manufacturers)
2003 Rosberg  • 2004–2005 HWA  • 2007–2008 Persson  • 2009–2014 HWA  • 2015–2016 ART  • 2009–2014, 2017–2018 HWA (all Mercedes-Benz )
statistics
Starts Victories Poles SR 186 23 17th -
Podiums:	48
Overall wins:	2 (2005) , (2018)
Points:	1067.5
Status: October 14, 2018

Gary Paffett (born March 24, 1981 in Bromley , England ) is a British automobile racing driver . He became German Formula 3 champion in 2002 . He competed in the DTM from 2003 to 2018 and won the championship title in 2005 and 2018. Paffett also worked as a test driver for the McLaren Formula 1 team from 2006 to 2014 . In 2018/19 he competes with HWA in the FIA Formula E Championship .

Career

Like most automobile racing drivers, Paffett began his career in karting , which he practiced from 1991 to 1997. Among other things, he was British Junior TKM Champion and European Junior ICA Vice-Champion in 1995. In 1996 he was runner-up in the British ICA Junior Championship. In 1997 he was in the British Formula Vauxhall Junior debut in single-seater racing and immediately won the championship. In 1998 the Briton drove in the B-Class of Formula Vauxhall Junior. He dominated the championship and won every race starting from pole position and also always drove the fastest race lap. In 1999 Paffett took part in Formula Vauxhall and won another championship title. For his success he was awarded the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award at the end of the year .

In 2000 Paffett moved to the national class of the British Formula 3 Championship and dominated the title. He achieved the pole position, the fastest race lap and victory in every race. In 2001 the Brit moved to the German Formula 3 championship for Team Rosberg , the racing team of Formula 1 World Champion Keke Rosberg . With one win, Paffett was sixth overall. In 2002 he played his second season in German Formula 3 for Team Rosberg and won the championship title with seven victories.

Paffett 2007 in a DTM Mercedes in Oschersleben

In 2003 Paffett first moved to Brand Motorsport in the international Formula 3000 championship . However, the team withdrew after one race and Paffett no longer had a cockpit. For the third race weekend of the 2003 DTM season , the Brit returned to Team Rosberg and made his DTM debut . He started with a Mercedes-Benz from the previous year and replaced Patrick Huisman . Paffett quickly found his way in touring car racing and was eleventh in the overall standings at the end of the season. He clearly beat his team-mate Stefan Mücke , who had already completed one season in the DTM.

In 2004 Paffett switched to the HWA team and received a current racing car from Mercedes-Benz. Paffett immediately won the first race at the Hockenheimring and, with three more victories, was runner-up behind Audi driver Mattias Ekström . So in his first season in a current car he was the best Mercedes driver and left his teammates Christijan Albers , Bernd Schneider and Jean Alesi behind. In 2005 the Briton won the DTM championship title with five victories ahead of last year's champion Ekström. Paffett finished every race in the points and scored as many points as his three teammates Schneider, Häkkinen and Alesi combined.

Paffett 2008 in the McLaren Formula 1 car

After winning the title, Paffett left the DTM in 2006 and became a Formula 1 test driver at McLaren . After the two McLaren drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Juan Pablo Montoya left the team, it was initially speculated that Paffett would receive the second McLaren cockpit alongside world champion Fernando Alonso in 2007 . However, the racing team opted for the GP2 champion Lewis Hamilton .

After Paffett initially tried to get a different Formula 1 cockpit, he was finally contracted again by McLaren as a test driver. He also returned to the DTM. The Brit received a racing car from Persson Motorsport from last year . In the second race of the 2007 season in Oschersleben , he won a race. This made Paffett the first driver to win a DTM race in a year-old car. At the end of the season he finished ninth overall.

Despite his good performance, he did not receive a current car in 2008 and he started again in a Persson Motorsport Mercedes from last year. With a few points he finished ninth in the overall standings at the end of the season. For the 2009 season , Paffett again received a current Mercedes-Benz and he joined the HWA team again. With four wins, including the last two races of the season, Paffett was runner-up and best Mercedes driver behind Audi driver Timo Scheider .

Paffett 2010 in a DTM Mercedes at the season opener race at the Hockenheimring

Parallel to his involvement in the DTM, Paffett was also a Formula 1 test driver for McLaren in 2008 and 2009. In 2010 he continued to work as a test driver for McLaren. In 2010 he also had the honor of being the first driver to drive the new McLaren MP4-25 . In the test drives after the end of the season, the racing driver took part in two days. In 2010 the Brit stayed with the HWA team in the DTM . He started the season well with a win at the season opener at the Hockenheimring. With two more victories in Zandvoort and Shanghai , he was once again runner- up at the end of the season with 67 to 71 points behind his team-mate Paul di Resta .

In 2011 Paffett competed in the DTM again. In contrast to his HWA team-mates, he did not finish a race on the podium and finished seventh overall at the end of the season. Paffett also remained a test driver with McLaren in 2011 . In 2012 , Paffett won the DTM season opener at Hockenheim again for HWA. After finishing second in race two, he achieved his second win of the season at Brands Hatch . He was always on the podium in the first four runs. Paffett led the championship until the season finale. He finished second behind Bruno Spengler , who won the overall standings. Paffett was second overall behind Spengler with 145 to 149 points and was the best Mercedes driver. It was the third time in the last four years that Paffett came second in the drivers' championship. He also remained a Formula 1 test driver at McLaren in 2012 . He also took on the role of substitute driver for Force India at a Grand Prix .

In 2013 , Paffett stayed with HWA in the DTM. He won the race at the EuroSpeedway Lausitz. At the end of the season he finished sixth overall. In addition, he continues to hold the test driver position at McLaren. In 2014 Paffett competed again for HWA in the DTM. At the end of the season he was in 22nd place in the drivers' standings. This made him the second worst Mercedes driver and for the first time since his debut season he failed to make it into the top 10.

In 2015 Paffett left HWA and switched to ART Grand Prix within the Mercedes DTM teams . He came third twice and second once. He finished the season in ninth place overall. In 2016 , Paffett stayed with ART in the DTM. With two podium finishes, he finished the drivers' championship in eleventh position.

In 2018 Paffett drove again for HWA in the DTM, won races for the first time since 2013 and finally his second championship title after 2005.

In the 2018/19 season , Paffett made his debut for HWA in the FIA ​​Formula E Championship. With nine points, he finished 19th in the drivers' championship at the end of the season.

Personal

Paffett is married and has three sons.

statistics

Career stations

1991–1997: karting 1998: Formula Vauxhall Junior, B-Class (champion) 1999: Formula Vauxhall (champion) 2000: British Formula 3 , national class (champions) 2001: German Formula 3 (6th place) 2002: German Formula 3 (champions) 2003 : Formula 3000 (29th place) 2003 : DTM (11th place) 2004 : DTM (2nd place) 2005 : DTM (champions) 2005 : Formula 1 (test driver)

2006 : Formula 1 (test driver) 2007 : DTM (9th place) 2007 : Formula 1 (test driver) 2008 : DTM (9th place) 2008 : Formula 1 (test driver) 2009 : DTM (2nd place) 2009 : Formula 1 (test driver) 2010 : DTM (2nd place) 2010 : Formula 1 (test driver) 2011 : DTM (7th place) 2011 : Formula 1 (test driver)

2012 : DTM (2nd place) 2012 : Formula 1 (test driver) 2013 : DTM (6th place) 2013 : Formula 1 (test driver) 2014 : DTM (22nd place) 2014 : Formula 1 (test driver) 2015 : DTM (9th place) 2016 : DTM (11th place) 2016 : Formula 1 (test driver) 2017 : DTM (5th place) 2018 : DTM (champions) 2018/19 : Formula E (19th place)

Individual results in the DTM

season	team	Manufacturer	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	16	17th	18th	19th	20th	Points	rank
2003	Team Rosberg	Mercedes	HO1	ADR	NÜ1	LAU	NOR	DON	NÜ2	SPI	ZAN	HO2											4th	11.
					DNF	15th	DNF	9	8th	6th	12	18th
2004	HWA	Mercedes	HO1	EST	ADR	LAU	NOR	SHA 1	ONLY	OSC	ZAN	BRN	HO2										57	2.
			1	13	4th	DSQ	1	1	1	4th	4th	3	3
2005	HWA	Mercedes	HO1	LA1	SPA	BRN	OSC	NOR	ONLY	ZAN	LA2	IS	HO2										84	1.
			2	1	8th	4th	1	1	3	1	2	1	3
2007	Persson Motorsport	Mercedes	HO1	OSC	LAU	BRH	NOR	MUG	ZAN	ONLY	BAR	HO2											20.5	9.
			8th	1	8th	10	4th	DNF	9	12	5	DNF
2008	Persson Motorsport	Mercedes	HO1	OSC	MUG	LAU	NOR	ZAN	ONLY	BRH	BAR	LEM	HO2										13	9.
			7th	11	12	10	DSQ	11	4th	8th	11	4th	11
2009	HWA	Mercedes	HO1	LAU	NOR	ZAN	OSC	ONLY	BRH	BAR	DIJ	HO2											59	2.
			DNF	1	5	1	5	8th	4th	4th	1	1
2010	HWA	Mercedes	HO1	VAL	LAU	NOR	ONLY	ZAN	BRH	OSC	HO2	ADR	SHA										67	2.
			1	7th	5	6th	3	1	5	4th	4th	2	1
2011	HWA	Mercedes	HO1	ZAN	SPI	LAU	NOR	ONLY	BRH	OSC	VAL	HO2											25th	7th
			6th	9	8th	4th	DNF	8th	4th	4th	8th	5
2012	HWA	Mercedes	HO1	LAU	BRH	SPI	NOR	ONLY	ZAN	OSC	VAL	HO2											145	2.
			1	2	1	3	4th	6th	7th	2	DNF	2
2013	HWA	Mercedes	HO1	BRH	SPI	LAU	NOR	MOS	ONLY	OSC	ZAN	HO2											69	6th
			4th	6th	9	1	18 *	5	17th	6th	9	9
2014	HWA	Mercedes	HO1	OSC	HUN	NOR	MOS	SPI	ONLY	LAU	ZAN	HO2											5	22nd
			12	8th	DNF	12	16	17th	15th	13	19 *	10
2015	ART Grand Prix	Mercedes	HO1		LAU		NOR		ZAN		SPI		MOS		OSC		ONLY		HO2				89	9.
			DNF	3	23	DNF	3	7th	11	10	7th	2	7th	6th	DNF	13	4th	DNF	DNF	9
2016	ART Grand Prix	Mercedes	HO1		SPI		LAU		NOR		ZAN		MOS		ONLY		HUN		HO2				73	11.
			11	4th	18th	13	14th	5	14th	DSQ	4th	2	3	18th	19th	7th	21st	16	19th	15th
2017	HWA	Mercedes	HO1		LAU		HUN		NOR		MOS		ZAN		ONLY		SPI		HO2				102	10.
			7th	2	6th	4th	7th	9	10	DNF	7th	16	8th	5	10	14th	17th	4th	9	4th
2018	HWA	Mercedes	HO1		LAU		HUN		NOR		ZAN		BRH		MIS		ONLY		SPI		HO2		255	1.
			1	3	9	1	6th	15th	2	13	1	2	6th	2	DNF	6th	3	5	10	3	4th	3

Legend
colour	abbreviation	meaning
gold	-	victory
silver	-	2nd place
bronze	-	3rd place
green	-	Placement in the points
blue	-	Classified outside the point ranks
violet	DNF	Race not finished (did not finish)
	NC	not classified
red	DNQ	did not qualify
	DNPQ	failed in pre-qualification (did not pre-qualify)
black	DSQ	disqualified
White	DNS	not at the start (did not start)
	WD	withdrawn
Light Blue	PO	only participated in the training (practiced only)
	TD	Friday test driver
without	DNP	did not participate in the training (did not practice)
	INJ	injured or sick
	EX	excluded
	DNA	did not arrive
	C.	Race canceled
		no participation in the World Cup
other	P / bold	Pole position
	SR / italic	Fastest race lap
	*	not at the finish, but counted due to the distance covered
	()	Streak results
	underlined	Leader in the overall standings

¹ The race in Shanghai was not part of the championship.

Individual results in the FIA ​​Formula E Championship

year	team	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	16	Points	rank
2018/19	HWA Racelab	TO YOU	MAR	SAN	MEX	HKG	SAY	ROME	PAR	MCO	BER	BRN	NYC					9	19th
		DNF	DNF	14th	16	8th	DNF	DNF	8th	12	16	17th	11	10

( Legend )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ "Paffett satisfied: MP4-25 premiere successful" (Motorsport-Total.com on February 1, 2010)
2. ↑ "McLaren: Solid test result for Paffett & Turvey" (Motorsport-Total.com on November 20, 2010)
3. ^ "Official: Mercedes presents driver squad 2010" (Motorsport-Total.com on April 15, 2010)
4. ^ "Mercedes-Benz confirms Paffett and new team sponsor" ( Memento from April 10, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (dtm.com on April 3, 2011)
5. ↑ "Virtual setup work for McLaren tester Paffett" (Motorsport-Total.com on January 11, 2011)
6. ^ "Formula 1 - McLaren extends contract with Paffett" (Motorsport-Total.com on July 5, 2011)
7. ^ William Esler: "Paffett reserve for Force India". (No longer available online.) Skysports.com, March 16, 2012, archived from the original on March 19, 2012 ; accessed on December 23, 2012 (English). 
8. ^ "Paffett: The developer at Mercedes" (Motorsport-Total.com on June 17, 2011)
9. ↑ Andrew van Leeuwen: Gary Paffett extends Mercedes DTM deal into 2015. autosport.com, October 17, 2014, accessed January 29, 2015 . 
10. ↑ Timo Pape: HWA presents (only) Gary Paffett & Formula E car for the 2018/19 season. e-Formel.de, October 8, 2018, accessed October 15, 2018 . 
11. ^ "Profile" ( Memento from July 11, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (garypaffettracing.com)

Web links

Commons : Gary Paffett  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

• Official website of Gary Paffett (English)