The Young Drivers: No.5 - Gary Paffett

Where were they then?

A fresh-faced, 18-year-old Gary Paffett had just won the Formula Vauxhall championship with the same Young Guns team that he'd raced and won titles with in karting. The Vauxhall champion was almost guaranteed a place in the final of the award and Paffett was no exception.

But it was his standout performance in the Formula 3 car over the three-day evaluation at Silverstone that caught the attention of the judges, and he was duly crowned the 11th McLaren Autosport BRDC Award winner.

This is what Autosport magazine wrote about Paffett at the time

The biggest wave of adulation and disappointment was kept for the very end of the evening, with the announcement of this year's McLaren Autosport BRDC Young Driver.

There could only be one of six finalists' tables to erupt with joy when BRDC president Ken Tyrrell announced the name. It was Gary Paffett's family and friends who exploded into cheers as the spotlight sought them out in the corner of the Great Room.

For the 18-year-old, it was then a long walk up to the stage to receive the cheque for £50,000 that goes along with the prestige, BRDC membership and the promise of a McLaren Formula One test.

"I was very nervous, but it was the best feeling you could ever have," said the reigning Formula Vauxhall champion afterwards. "To be picked as the young driver was amazing. The moments before it was announced were the most nerve-wracking of my life, and then I was just ecstatic."

Gary Paffett winning in Formula Vauxhall Junior in 1999 © LAT

The reality of following a long line of top British talent in receiving the most prestigious award available to an aspiring single-seater racer sank in quickly for the teenager from Hoddesdon in Hertfordshire.

"It marks a progression in my racing career and my life," he smiled. "It's the single award that every young driver wants to win, and sets me up perfectly for the future. The people at my table celebrated like they did because we've done Formula Vauxhall for two seasons with the Young Guns team, and it really is such a family effort. We've put so much in and to get this back is just fantastic."

After winning the Class B title with the Young Guns in 1998, it was a mesmeric drive in a wet final round at Silverstone this September that secured the overall series crown for Paffett from fellow finalist Dalziel.

Paffett was chosen over the other five drivers by the judging panel after three gruelling days of testing Formula 3, Super Touring and Porsche Supercup cars at Silverstone. He shone in everything, but was particularly impressive in F3, despite a spin at Becketts.

"I thought it was all over," he admitted. "But then I got back to the pits and had a chat to the engineers, and they didn't seem bothered at all. So I then just went back out and tried to go as quickly as I could."

Paffett's association with Young Guns - the racing arm of karting guru Martin Hines' Zip firm - goes back further than his two years of car racing. He was picked up as a 10-year-old and went on to win three major British karting crowns.

Hines felt proud of his protege's success: "Gary's become like a second son to me and it's a wonderful achievement for the team," he said. "Like all the previous winners, he's a very special talent."

One former Zip kart driver who made it to the top is inaugural Young Driver award winner David Coulthard - a grand prix winner with Williams and McLaren.

"Gary is clearly a good prospect," said the Scot, who won the award in 1989. "There was a lot of good young talent up there and he seems a very good choice. He is very together. I can remember being at that stage of my career and it never ceases to amaze me how much confidence these guys have."

For Paffett, the immediate future lies in a graduation to slicks and wings, most likely in Formula Renault 2000 or the National Class in British Formula 3. Having won a title in every season since 1995, there'll be plenty of pressure to perform as the Young Driver, but he remains relaxed.

"I don't feel that just because I've won the award I've got to take a championship next year. For sure, I'll be doing my best but it will also be a learning experience as well. This award isn't just for 2000, it'll last for the rest of my life."

Where are they now?

Gary Paffett en route to the 2005 DTM Championship in Hockenheim © XPB

Paffett was already in contact with McLaren at the end of 1999, but says winning the award helped to turn a prize run into a full test with the team.

"Something with McLaren was already in the works," he says. "We'd been talking to them for a bit but there was never a test mentioned until I'd won the award. That gave me the reason to test for them and, because of the relationship we had already, instead of doing a cold half-day at Silverstone I went and did a full test at Jerez.

"That's where my testing relationship with McLaren started. Without winning the award, I might never have got that first test and I might not be a test driver for them now. It's certainly made a big difference in my career, even to this day.

"It's something that I think is very important. You can't express how much of an achievement it is to be nominated at the time."

In 2000, Paffett flourished under the pressure of winning six titles in a row and clinched British Formula 3's National Class crown in his first year in the category. But even with a string of championships and his links with McLaren, Paffett's options at home were limited.

He took a risk and moved to German F3 with Team Rosberg (who also run a DTM team). His title streak came to and end, but he did win a race in that first season and earned the chance to return with the team in 2001, when he dominated the championship.

A one-off outing in Formula 3000 the following year didn't lead anywhere, but a switch to the DTM marked the beginning of a new career. He won his first races in 2004 and five more victories brought the title in 2005 after a season-long battle with Mattias Ekstrom.

Paffett was still itching to turn his McLaren testing duties into a more permanent deal and in 2006 he took the decision to walk away from the DTM to concentrate fully on McLaren's development work in the hope of turning it into a full-time drive.

With McLaren's decision to give a race seat to Lewis Hamilton in 2007, Paffett returned to the DTM. Last year at Oschersleben he became the only driver ever to win a race outright in a year-old car, and this year he finished top of the non-2008-spec cars in the standings.

With Bernd Schneider's retirement and Paul di Resta's future still uncertain, Paffett could well be back in the title hunt next season in a front running Mercedes.

Paffett has also seen the award from several different sides. As well as being involved as a finalist in 1999, he returned as a judge and in recent years as the expert on hand to guide the finalists in the DTM car.

"It was great for me to go back to judge and then later to be back with the DTM car," he said. "It's good to go there and see it from the other side. It's good to wind the guys up a bit!

"I was there with the DTM car when Paul won it and it was really nice to see it from the other side, to see how it all works."