OCTOBER 24, 2005

Rule Britannia

Britain may no longer rule the waves but Europe's island offshoot is certainly doing well this year in Germany with Gary Paffett having become the first British driver to win the DTM Championship and Lewis Hamilton ending his extraordinary year in the Formula 3 Eurocup with two wins to bring his tally to 15 victories in 20 races.

Paffett, a Mercedes-Benz factory driver, won five races this year on the way to his title and the 24-year-old is now hoping that he might be able to find a way into F1 in the future as his Mercedes predecessor Christijan Albers has done this year.

Hamilton is the second consecutive British driver to win the Formula 3 Eurocup, following in the footsteps of Jamie Green in 2004. Green moved to DTM this year and hopes to emulate Paffett in the future.