Vandoorne to partner Paffett at HWA

Stoffel Vandoorne will partner Gary Paffett at HWA Racelab for Season 5 of the FIA Formula E championship.

The Belgian driver will partner two-time DTM champion Paffett at the new HWA Racelab team.

Both drivers have links to the McLaren F1 team: Paffett was a long-time test and reserve driver at the Woking outfit while Vandoorne spent two years as a race driver.

Vandoorne had been a McLaren young driver since 2013 and jumped into a race seat at the 2016 Bahrain Grand Prix when Fernando Alonso was ruled out with injury.

He outqualified 2009 world champion Jenson Button before finishing in 10^th place.

The 2015 GP2 champion was then promoted to a full-time race seat alongside two-time world champion Fernando Alonso. He scored 13 points with McLaren-Honda in 2017 before a switch to Renault power.

After 17 races, Vandoorne has eight points to his name in 2018. He has been overlooked for a 2019 race seat by McLaren in favour of teenager Lando Norris.

Season 5 kicks off in Ad Diriyah, Saudi Arabia, on December 15.

Photo courtesy HWA AG