Paffett and Gasly join post-race testing in Bahrain

Gary Paffett (GBR) Mercedes-AMG Team ART, Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM. 15.10.2016, DTM Round 9, Hockenheimring, Germany, Saturday, Qualifying 1. - www.xpbimages.com, EMail: requests@xpbimages.com - copy of publication required for printed pictures. Every used picture is fee-liable. © Copyright: Trienitz / XPB Images

Gary Paffett is among the drivers taking part in Formula 1 post-race testing in Bahrain this week.

The former McLaren test driver and 2005 DTM champion will be behind the wheel of the Williams FW40 on Wednesday. The 36-year-old joined the team as their simulator driver just prior to the 2016 season.

Paffet has never taken part in a Formula 1 Grand Prix. He racked up 13 years as a test driver with McLaren, completing almost 23,000km during his tenure.

Williams' full time driver Lance Stroll and Felipe Massa will share test duties on the first day of testing on Tuesday. Stroll will run in the morning, with Felipe Massa scheduled to take over following the lunch break.

Red Bull have also confirmed their driver line-up for the third test of the year, the first in-season. Daniel Ricciardo will be in the RB13 for the whole of Tuesday.

Gasly still eyeing F1 break despite missing out in 2017

With Max Verstappen opting to sit out the test, the car will be handed over to GP2 champion Pierre Gasly for test duties on Wednesday.

Gasly has already tested for Red Bull at Silverstone and took part in a tyre test program in 2016.

He had hoped to step up to a full time race seat in Formula 1 this season. He was strongly mooted as a potential replacement for Daniil Kvyat at Toro Rosso. Instead, he is spending this year honing his skills in Japanese Super Formula while hoping for an F1 berth in 2018.

The next in-season test is due to take place later in the year, following the Hungarian Grand Prix at the end of July.

GALLERY: All the action from the Bahrain Grand Prix

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.