Biography

Over the next few years the youngster was to rise through the Karting ranks, finishing runner-up in the European championship in 199 and winning the British championship in 2001.

In 2002, Paul made the switch to single-seaters, contesting the British Formula Renault Winter Series. He remained in Formula Renault for the next two seasons, finishing seventh in 2003 and third in 2004.

In addition to his impressive outings in the British Formula Renault series in 2004, Paul also contested several rounds of the of Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 and the Bahrain F3-Superprix in which he finished fifth. Unsurprisingly, he won the McLaren Autosport BRDC Young Driver of The Year Award, thereby following in the footsteps of his famous cousin once again, Dario Franchitti having won it in 1992. As part of his prize, the youngster got to test a McLaren F1 car at Silverstone.

In 2005, Paul moved up to the F3 Euroseries with Manor Motorsport. While it was a largely disappointing season for the Scot - he finished tenth overall - the following year he bounced back in style taking the title from under the nose of Sebastian Vettel, courtesy of five wins and four other podium finishes.

For 2007, Paul made the surprise switch to DTM with Trilux AMG Mercedes - once again following the path taken by his cousin. Finishing the season fifth overall, he was also was the highest placed driver a non-2007 car.

Such was the impression he made on Mercedes in 2007, for 2008 he was handed a Mercedes C Klasse drive and he repaid the German manufacturer by finishing runner-up just 4 points behind title winner Timo Scheider in the Audi. He remained with Mercedes in DTM for 2009 this time finishing third overall behind Scheider and (McLaren tester) Gary Paffett.

Following the link-up with McLaren and Mercedes for the 2009 season, there was speculation that Paul might get a test seat, or even a race seat, with Force India, however, the Silverstone-based outfit opted for Giancarlo Fisichella, Adrian Sutil and Tonio Liuzzi.

Following three days of testing for the Indian team at Jerez in late 2009 - when he was consistently among the pace-setters - it was widely assumed Paul might get a race seat for 2010, but again it was not to be as the team retained Sutil and Liuzzi. However, on February 2, Paul was confirmed as official test and reserve driver.

In addition to his F1 duties, it was revealed that Paul would continue in DTM, the youngster determined to go one better than he did in 2008. Which he duly did.

Already enjoying a strong season, the HWA Team Mercedes driver took three straight wins at Brands Hatch, Oschersleben and Hockenheim, and despite a determined fight back from English rival Gary Paffett, the Scot took the title by 4 points.

In F1, Paul made his practice debut for Force India on the Friday morning of the Australian Grand Prix weekend. There were further appearances at Sepang, Shanghai, Barcelona, Valencia, Silverstone, the Hungaroring and Monza.

In addition to the Young Driver test in Abu Dhabi, where he finished eighth overall, Paul also took part in two days of the subsequent Pirelli tyre test, finishing ninth overall.

Linked throughout the winter to the second seat at Force India in 2011, the situation was complicated by the fact that Tonio Liuzzi already had a contract in place. However, on January 26, Paul was confirmed as Adrian Sutil's teammate while Nico Hulkenberg was recruited as test and reserve driver.

On his F1 debut, in Melbourne, Paul out-qualified his teammate, however, next day the pair could only mange to finish eleventh and twelfth. The subsequent disqualification of the Sauber duo however, meant that Paul joined that elite club for drivers who score points on their F1 debut.

In seven of the next nine races, Paul out-qualified his teammate, however, Sunday afternoons were to prove a little more difficult. Although he scored another point in Malaysia, the Scot failed to secure a points finish in the next eight races.

For much of the season Paul was plagued by poor strategy, both on track and off, in qualifying and on race days. A typical example was Turkey where the youngster was released from his pit before time, the Scot subsequently losing a wheel at the end of the pitlane and having to retire.

In Canada, the youngster had an absolute nightmare. Running a convincing fifth, he collided with Nick Heidfeld and broke his front wing. He was subsequently given a drive through penalty for causing the collision. Later in the race, he was about to mount an attack on Rubens Barrichello for ninth place when he made an unforced error and hit a wall.

The VJM04 was a no frills machine, what some might call conservative. However, it was a solid foundation of a car that could be built upon, which is exactly what the team did. Having scored just twelve points in the first half of the season, from Germany the Silverstone outfit racked up a further fifty-seven, Paul responsible for twenty-five of them.

Seventh in Hungary, was followed by an eighth in Italy and a highly impressive sixth in Singapore, all of which helped his team leapfrog Sauber in the standings and ultimately claim seventh in the championship, its best result since 2002.

While there were obvious mistakes, it was easy to overlook the fact that this was the youngster's first season in F1. His consistency was amazing, the Scot completed more race laps than any of his rivals, 97.5% of the total laps that constituted the season. Indeed, there was only one retirement, that pesky loose wheel in Turkey, no wonder most regard him as their rookie of the year.

It was a no-brainer for Force India to retain him for 2012. However, this year he will face stiff opposition from another rising star, Nico Hulkenberg. It will be interesting to see how this partnership, one of the most exciting this year, works.

Statistics - at the end of 2011 Season

Drivers' Titles: 0
Seasons in F1: 1
Grand Prix: 19
Wins: 0
Poles: 0
Fastest Laps: 1

Best result in 2011: 6th (Singapore)
Best qualifying 2011: 6th (Britain)
Worst qualifying 2011: 18th (Belgium)

2011: Out-qualified Adrian Sutil 9 times
2011: Out-qualified by Adrian Sutil 10 times

2011: Completed 1105 out of 1133 laps (97.5%)
2011: Finished 18 times from 19 starts (95%)