Paffett Could Drive Third Sauber this Season

Mercedes boss Norbert Haug confirmed on Saturday that the German company's young British DTM driver Gary Paffett could appear as a third driver for Sauber before the end of the year.

Haug said that team chief Peter Sauber is on the lookout for young talent to bring into the sport after schooling German Nick Heidfeld, Finn Kimi Raikkonen and Brazilian Felipe Massa in recent years.

"Peter Sauber is after young talent and has approached me," said Haug. "I think he has expertise in that side and if he asked me I would certainly try to find a solution to help Gary and get him a test drive.

"Maybe there is an opportunity in a third car this year. We are discussing that and we will see where we are. We certainly will help but it needs to make sense for him to do it."

Sauber could draft Paffett in for the Hungarian Grand Prix in three weekends' time but then have only two more races in Europe - Belgium and Italy - before the final three flyaways in China, Japan and Brazil.

Paffett has impressed in DTM this season, his first in the competitive championship as a works driver, and Haug is also wary that he must keep his mind on the job in hand, rather than focus on the potential of a Formula One test.

"Gary has won four of six races on the road which is quite an impressive score and it's important for him to not think about other issues," Haug added. "If his performance dropped people would immediately say he's not that good."

Paffett's teammate, Dutch driver Christijan Albers, will test for Jordan later this year but Haug insists he knows nothing about it and criticised Jordan for revealing their plans.

"I know nothing about a test drive in a Jordan but I should know it," said Haug. "If I am approached I am constructive. I think we help Gary a lot and Christijan a lot but without DTM nobody thinks they are very good.

"And it would be fantastic if a DTM driver could be promoted to Formula One - but I do not like people announcing test drives without having asked the contractual partner. I don't think that's how it should be."