i reckon gary made a big mistake leaving dtm this season hes not doing to well with the testing at f1 i reckon he should have stayed one more season, any one else got any thoughts on this.

Having F1 Tester on your CV is far more lucrative than a DTM championship. At the end of the day the DTM is still just a national championship, not many drivers would stay if there was a seat available with a world championship team.

Gary moved on at the right time, he's landed a factory testing role with McLaren Mercedes, now has Martin Brundle's 2MB as management and is in a position to gain some vital experience away from the limelight.

There will be plenty of seats available on the F1 grid in 2007 and being a McLaren tester will have a lot of stock when the negotiations start.

but is he good enough to get a f1 seat in 2007

i think garry should have stayed with dtm and defend his title,but unfortunately the lure of F1 and the pay packet and obvisly the prestige will lure any driver there,i dont think he will do well in f1,i hope im wrong,but its a face fits senario,look at joss verstapern,f1 crap,crap car never moved up the grid,but his driver tallent is awsome,a1gp springs to mind,

He will end up being another Anthony Davidson. Davidson is always fast in testing, but sod all happens. F1 is all about being the son of an-ex champion or having a jovial personality (Rossi). I DO think gary has made a mistake, but on the flip side, if he is lightening fast, Ron could put him in a seat. I feel that Montoya annoys Ron.

Saying that. my tip for 2007 race seat is Louis Hamilton. I think he will slay everyone in GP2 and Ron will put him in a Mc.

Good riddance . . . not that I have anything against Paffett . . . simply to get a bit of peace from Carlton Kirby's rabid flag-waving ( when Paffett was disqualfied in 2005 for not having enough fuel at the end of a race CK shouted "ROBBED" & kept on shouting at every meeting until the end of the season . . . having insufficient fuel at race-end for scrutineering is is, depending on your point of view, either cheating or just unlucky . . . . but "ROBBED" ?? ) . . . Come on Motors TV . . . find PROPER commentator for your English speaking broadcast of DTM.

shut up freddy james all 3 of your posts are about the great man himself the kirbynator

ps stop spamming

given the chance to be testing for a top-class f1 team, i would hapily take it. true, he might never achieve anything more, but he's sure as hell going to give it his best shot and i applaud him for taking the risk.

What do you expect from a LOOOOOOSER?

Mac will soon sack him hes joined the team when they were the fastest, hes "helped" them over the winter and they have gone backwards to the competition.

Pathetic

He won the championship. I suppose you could do that? You would have to take out the vibrator for half an hour though.

Re: SS. Funny how you seem to get people posting on motor-racing forums who seem to know nothing about motor racing...

Who said McLaren have gone backwards? If they had gone backwards wouldn't their laptimes be worse in this season compared to last? They haven't moved forwards as much as Renault or Ferrari and if blame is to be laid on Paffet's shoulders, it should be equally laid on Kimi's, JPM's, Hamilton's and the McLaren team too? (rhetorical)

Paffett is more likely to make it into F1 than most drivers, period. Forgetting that he is arguably good enough for now, he is a very consistent driver in any session - race, practice, test etc. - and that he gives great feedback to engineers - far beyond his years. These are the single two most important qualities to make it as a highly valued test driver, and then the eventual natural progression of racing the car he help build another season. If nothing else, many teams will be after his testing services.

The only thing against him is that he hasn't come straight from a predominantly open-wheeled high downforce series. Give him a chance to get the hang of it, or do you think Valentino Rossi is crap too?

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I still say Alonso/Hamilton for Macs.
Kimi/Kovey for Renault
Schumy/Massa for Ferrari

in 2007

In Martin Brundels grid walk for the British GP he spoke to Paffet and Bernie Ecclestone pipped up that you will see him in F1 next year. If anyone can make it happen BE can.

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The F1 Silly Season has started as it always has. But there are no done deals until the signatures are on the bottom of the contracts and the ink is dry!

But we sit and watch with interest.....

Steve

Bernie says a lot (and maybe too much sometimes).

The only ones who were right are the ones that are on the starting grid of next year. And it would be nice if Gary is there (just like Doornbos, and I'm really sure Hamilton will be there as well somewhere. Did anyone see him win live? It's like if you see Schumi only the car is a bit different...).

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