DECEMBER 6, 2006

The future of Gary Paffett

Gary Paffett is rumoured to be returning to the DTM in 2007 after his attempt to sign for Honda failed to materialise. The story of what happened with negotiations depends on who one talks to with Paffett's people saying that he had a better offer and whispers from Honda that he was asking too much. The "better offer" argument suggests that Paffett has been offered a definite F1 drive in 2008 with a secondary Mercedes-Benz team. It is a nice idea but the only possibility of that is Prodrive and there is no sign that any deal is going down between the German manufacturer and the F1 newcomers. A deal does make sense in many ways but McLaren is keen not to disrupt its own programme by trying to supply a second team.

The idea will have to remain on hold for a while longer because of the expected announcement early next year that the team has been bought by Mercedes-Benz. This is believed to have been completed some time ago but is being kept under wraps at the moment.