Mercedes Formula E team explains Gary Paffett's management role

Paffett raced for the HWA squad that preceded Mercedes' FE entry but, unlike his team-mate Stoffel Vandoorne, he was not carried over to the works squad for the upcoming 2019-20 campaign.

Instead, the double DTM champion will work as Mercedes' test and development driver, as well as taking up a new role as its sporting and technical advisor.

James outlined his hopes that Paffett's season of FE experience will be valuable to Mercedes efforts to improve its package using Vandoorne's feedback and that of his new team-mate Nyck de Vries.

"[The 2019-20] season is going to be one of those seasons because although hardware is locked down, [with] software, we have the opportunity to continue to develop, and driver feedback is going to be absolutely paramount," James told Autosport.

"That's the great thing about having Gary on board as well - he's got that one year of experience, and he very much acts as the conduit between the drivers and engineers and provides that check and balance in terms of the information that's coming through.

"And I think that'll prove to be an asset."

Vandoorne and de Vries - the newly crowned 2019 Formula 2 champion - gave Mercedes' first FE package its first official outing at last month's 2019-20 group pre-season test at Valencia.

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James praised their feedback on the Mercedes' Silver Arrow 01 as "super-direct".

"It's great and I what said to both of them when we embarked on this journey is that we're a new team and we're developing, and they're very much part of that development process," he explained.

"We'll only reach that necessary speed of development through their input.

"And I think so far they've been very candid in terms of their approach and what's working well for them and what's working not so well."