Anthony Davidson

Anthony Davidson demonstrating a Formula Two Brabham-Honda BT18 at the 2005 Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Anthony Denis Davidson (born 18 April, 1979 in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England) is an English racing driver, currently racing in Formula One with Super Aguri.

Biography

Davidson began kart racing in 1987, racing in various British, European and North American championships. In 1999, he moved to cars, racing Formula Fords and winning the Kent county class of the British Formula Ford festival that year.

The following season, he was runner-up in the British Formula Ford championship but did win the blue riband Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch and scooped the McLaren/Autosport Young Driver of the Year Award.

In 2001, he competed in the British Formula Three championship with the Carlin team, finishing second overall to teammate Takuma Sato. His performance improved throughout the season and he outscored Sato from June until the season's end.

He won the Formula Three Pau Grand Prix, the Spa Masters and the FIA European Cup.

Formula One

BAR

In late 2001, Davidson became the test driver for British American Racing (BAR).

The following season Davidson started two races for Minardi temporarily replacing regular driver Alex Yoong, who the team had decided to suspend after he had failed to qualify for three races. Minardi had originally planned to put Justin Wilson in the car, but he proved too tall. Davidson's qualifying times were within 0.6s of teammate Mark Webber at his two starts in Hungary and Belgium, but he spun out of both events.

He was not given a chance to race in 2003 and remained a test driver at BAR alongside Takuma Sato. When Sato was promoted to the race team following the departure of Jacques Villeneuve, it presented Davidson with the opportunity to become third driver.

This was especially useful in 2004, as BAR were able to run a third car in Friday morning testing, which became Davidson's duty. He frequently impressed with his pace, although some have questioned the validity of these times as a raw indicator due to the lack of need to conserve the car in the way race drivers Sato and Jenson Button did. Contrary to popular rumour, only two of his fast times were set on light fuel - a fact his father has repeated many times on Internet forums, where he frequently posts in support of his son.

In November 2004, BAR announced that it had failed to come to an acceptable contractual agreement with Williams to allow Davidson to drive for Wiliams in 2005 because Williams would not agree to his unconditional "repatriation" to BAR in 2006. Given BAR's long-term contract on Davidson, his chance of securing a race seat for 2005 was therefore called into serious doubt. He was given the opportunity to fill in for an unwell Sato at the 2005 Malaysian Grand Prix, but his engine expired just two laps into the event.

Honda

Davidson as Honda's third driver at the 2006 United States Grand Prix.

For 2006, Davidson resumed his role as test driver for BAR, now owned by and renamed Honda F1. As BAR had failed to be one of the top four constructors the previous season, Honda were able to run a third car on Friday, giving Davidson a bigger role than in 2005. Having previously done some radio commentary work for BBC Radio 5 Live, in 2006 he made his debut as a television commentator, standing in for the absent Martin Brundle to work for ITV Sport at the Hungarian Grand Prix, which was won by Jenson Button and the Honda team.

Super Aguri

Davidson driving for Super Aguri at the 2007 Brazilian Grand Prix.

Speed TV reported at the 2006 Japanese Grand Prix that Davidson had all but signed with the Super Aguri F1 team. An announcement came on 15 November, confirming that Davidson would partner Takuma Sato at Super Aguri for the 2007 Formula One season. Thus, he became a Formula One regular driver for first time in the 2007 season.

At the 2007 Canadian Grand Prix Davidson was running third when his car struck a groundhog on the straight before the pits, ultimately putting him back to 11th place and ending his bid for his first career points. At the Hungarian Grand Prix Davidson's rear suspension was broken during a collision with Giancarlo Fisichella, which forced him to retire. Davidson finished the season in 23rd place having scored no points.

Personal life

On 11 August, 2006 Davidson married his girlfriend Carrie in Banbury, Oxfordshire. The couple reside in Brackley.

His brother Andrew Davidson appeared in the first series of Big Brother in the UK.

Complete Formula One results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	WDC	Points
2002	KL Minardi Asiatech	Minardi PS02	Asiatech AT02 3.0 V10	AUS	MAL	BRA	SMR	ESP	AUT	MON	CAN	EUR	GBR	FRA	GER	HUN Ret	BEL Ret	ITA	USA	JPN			-	0
2004	Lucky Strike BAR Honda	BAR 006	Honda RA004E 3.0 V10	AUS TD	MAL TD	BHR TD	SMR TD	ESP TD	MON TD	EUR TD	CAN TD	USA TD	FRA TD	GBR TD	GER TD	HUN TD	BEL TD	ITA TD	CHN TD	JPN TD	BRA TD		-	-
2005	Lucky Strike BAR Honda	BAR 007	Honda RA005E 3.0 V10	AUS	MAL Ret	BHR	SMR	ESP	MON	EUR	CAN	USA	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	TUR	ITA	BEL	BRA	JPN	CHN	-	0
2006	Lucky Strike Honda Racing F1 Team	Honda RA106	Honda RA806E 2.4 V8	BHR TD	MAL TD	AUS TD	SMR TD	EUR TD	ESP TD	MON TD	GBR TD	CAN TD	USA TD	FRA TD	GER TD	HUN TD	TUR TD	ITA TD	CHN TD	JPN TD	BRA TD		-	-
2007	Super Aguri F1	Super Aguri SA07	Honda RA807E 2.4 V8	AUS 16	MAL 16	BHR 16	ESP 11	MON 18	CAN 11	USA 11	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	EUR 12	HUN Ret	TUR 14	ITA 14	BEL 16	JPN Ret	CHN Ret	BRA 14			23rd	0

External links

• Official Website: www.anthonydavidson.com
• Portal: www.anthonydavidson.info by Hayden-Media
• Anthony Davidson Fan Forum
• Anthony Davidson profile and statistics
• Career statistics pre F1 and F1 career
• Some of Ant's dad's contributions to a debate at a discussion forum
• The Anthony Davidson Fan Site
• F1Fanatic Who's Who: Anthony Davidson

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