Gary Paffett returned to the cockpit of a Formula 1 car with the Williams Martini Racing team on Wednesday, and completed 126 laps in finishing eighth fastest around the Bahrain International Circuit.
The former McLaren F1 Team test driver and current Mercedes DTM star experienced the FW40 for the first time as he attempted to consolidate the readings from the simulator, where the Briton does most of his work, on track.
Paffett admitted he enjoyed his day in the car, and felt that he got all of the testing that the team planned done.
“It’s been a while since I’ve done a full test in a Formula 1 car!” insisted Paffett. “It’s really good to be back in the car, really good.
“The cars this year with the increased downforce, and more grip in the tyres, are really nice to drive. We’ve had a really good day. We’ve done a lot of laps, which is really good, and we got all of our testing done.
“That’s the purpose really, to get all the testing done, and then for me to go back and validate the simulator. So overall it was really nice to drive the car and I’m very happy with how the day went.”
