Another useless and unnecessary change that they won't revert. The vehicle selection menu is nicer though, so that's one thing they managed not to screw up.
It works much better this way on controllers though, although having separate keybinds for open and pause and open without pause would be ideal
I only use the controller to shift up and down with the O/X buttons when I'm using the steering wheel on a manual car because I don't feel like getting a shifter yet but still want some immersion. Other than that I use R1 for the handbrake. Everything else is used for the keyboard. Noticed the trend with these past few updates is them removing options for people. Not sure which new hires they have who hate that idea because it was never like that before this past year. If I really wanted to pause the game, I would press the J button like usual.