The 37-year-old rookie starting Mercedes' next big project

Gary Paffett was once caught out by inexperience, when he thought the DTM was "too easy" after a first title. After a 13-year wait for his second championship, it's a lesson he will have to remember as a Formula E rookie.

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There were 135 starts, 11 wins and 13 years between the first championship and the second. He watched 10 rivals claim the crown for two other marques. But two things remained the same for the whole time: this was the DTM and he raced for Mercedes.

He'd arrived in the championship back in 2003 and finished second in his first full campaign in '04 before taking the title a year later.

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Author Alex Kalinauckas

Alex Kalinauckas is Autosport's Grand Prix Editor, covering every Formula 1 race since the start of 2020. After completing a master's degree in journalism at Goldsmiths College University of London in 2014, he worked for a range of motorsport and technology publications while covering national racing as an Autosport freelancer.

A lifelong motorsport fan - no one in his family can explain quite how or why such a development first occurred - Alex joined the Autosport staff in April 2017 as the magazine’s Assistant Editor covering Formula 2 and GP3, before being made Formula E correspondent and Autosport.com’s Plus Editor in March 2018. He lives in north-east London and is constantly frustrated by the Central Line.