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Anthony Denis Davidson (born 18 April 1979) is a Former British Formula One racing driver from England, born in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire. He has raced for Minardi, Super Aguri and been a test and/or reserve driver for the British American Racing, Honda and Brawn GP teams. He is currently a commentator for BBC's Radio 5 Live Formula One coverage,[1] factory driver for the Peugeot Le Mans team and simulator driver for Mercedes GP[2].
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Davidson began kart racing in 1987, competing in various British, European and North American championships. He won three British championships (93, 94, 95), one Italian championship and was runner-up in the Formula A European championship in 1996. In 1999, he moved to single seater cars, racing Formula Fords and winning the 1600 cc Kent engine class of the British Formula Ford festival that year.[3] 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.[3]
In 2001, Davidson 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 also won the Formula Three Pau Grand Prix, the Spa Masters[3] and the FIA European Cup.
In late 2000, Davidson became the test driver for the British American Racing (BAR) Formula One team for the 2001 season.[4] The following season Davidson started two races for the small Minardi team, 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.[5] 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.[3]
He was not given a chance to race in 2003 and remained as test driver at BAR. Race drivers were Takuma Sato and Davidson's countryman Jenson Button who joined the team from Renault. When Sato was promoted to the race team following the departure of Jacques Villeneuve, it presented Davidson with the opportunity to become third driver.[3] 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.
In November 2004, BAR announced that it had failed to come to an acceptable contractual agreement with the Williams team to allow Davidson to drive for Williams 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.
In 2006 Davidson resumed his role as test driver for BAR, now owned by Honda and renamed Honda Racing 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 for ITV Sport at the Hungarian Grand Prix, which was won by Jenson Button and the Honda team. In 2008 Davidson returned to Honda as test driver for the testing at Spain's Circuit de Catalunya whilst Honda test driver Alexander Wurz was racing at Le Mans.[6]
On November 15, 2006, Super Aguri confirmed that Davidson would partner Takuma Sato for the 2007 Formula One season.[7] Thus, he became a regular Formula One driver for the first time.
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.
Amid financial problems which threatened their continued participation in Formula One, Super Aguri retained Davidson alongside team-mate Sato for 2008. However, on 6 May 2008 Super Aguri withdrew from the Championship leaving Davidson without a race seat.
Davidson was announced as Honda's test driver for the remainder of 2008 but on 5 December 2008 Honda pulled out of Formula One due to financial problems. Team boss Ross Brawn bought out the team and formed Brawn GP and Davidson became a test driver. On 16 November 2009, engine suppliers Mercedes-Benz bought out Brawn GP and re-named them Mercedes GP. In common with countryman Jenson Button Davidson could not agree contract terms with the new team but, unlike Button who joined Lewis Hamilton at McLaren, Davidson sat out of Formula One in 2010.
Davidson raced for the Aston Martin Racing team in the 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans, alongside Darren Turner and Jos Verstappen. His team drove Lola-Aston Martin B09/60 in the LMP1 class, which finished 13th overall in the race. He will return to the race in 2010, driving for defending champions Team Peugeot Total alongside Alexander Wurz and Marc Gené.[8]. The trio warmed up for Le Mans by leading a Peugeot 1-2 in the 2010 12 Hours of Sebring[9].
He has since been heard as a co-commentator on selected Grands Prix for BBC Radio 5 Live. This became permanent on February 13, 2009 when it was announced he would commentate alongside David Croft for the 2009 season.[1] Davidson will continue in the role in 2010, as the BBC decided on an unchanged lineup for its Formula One coverage on both TV and radio.[10]
Davidson has expressed his desire to return to Formula One during his commentary duties, and was linked with incoming teams Virgin and Lotus [11]. However, he was unable to obtain a racing position on any of the teams for the 2010 season.
Davidson has been working as an advisor for Codemasters on their latest racing title F1 2010 which is due out in September 2010.
On 11 August 2006, Davidson married his girlfriend Carrie in Banbury, Oxfordshire. The couple live in Brackley. His brother Andrew Davidson appeared in the first series of Big Brother in the UK.
Season | Series | Team Name | Races | Poles | Wins | Points | Final Placing |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1999 | British Formula Ford Winter Series | Haywood Racing Preparations | 5 | 5 | 5 | 47 | 1st |
2000 | Formula Renault 2000 Eurocup | ? | 8 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 29th |
TOCA British Formula Ford | Haywood Racing | ? | ? | 3 | 122 | 3rd | |
Formula Ford Festival World Cup | 1 | 1 | 1 | N/A | 1st | ||
2001 | Formula One | British American Racing | Test driver | ||||
British Formula Three | Carlin Motorsport | 26 | 7 | 6 | 272 | 2nd | |
European Formula Three Cup Series | ? | 1 | 2 | ? | 1st | ||
Masters of Formula Three | 1 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 3rd | ||
2002 | Formula One | Minardi | 2 | 0 | 0 | N/A | NC |
British American Racing | Test driver | ||||||
2003 | Formula One | British American Racing | Test driver | ||||
American Le Mans Series | Veloqx/Prodrive Racing (GTS) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 11th | |
Le Mans 24 Hours | 1 | 0 | 0 | N/A | NC | ||
2004 | Formula One | British American Racing | Test driver | ||||
2005 | Formula One | British American Racing | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC |
2006 | Formula One | Honda | Test driver | ||||
2007 | Formula One | Super Aguri | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23rd |
2008 | Formula One | Super Aguri | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22nd |
Honda | Test driver | ||||||
2009 | Formula One | Brawn GP | Test driver | ||||
Le Mans 24 Hours | Aston Martin Racing (LMP1) | 1 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 13th | |
FIA GT Championship | Nissan Motorsport (GT1) | 1 | 0 | 0 | N/A | N/A | |
2010 | American Le Mans Series | Peugeot Sport† (LMP1) | 1 | 1 | 1 | N/A | N/A |
Le Mans Series | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 15th* | ||
Le Mans 24 Hours | 1 | 0 | 0 | N/A | NC |
* Season in progress.
† In addition to competing in the 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans race, Peugeot Sport only contested selected events in the 2010 Le Mans and American Le Mans Series.
(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 |
NC | 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 |
NC | 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 | ||
2008 | Super Aguri F1 | Super Aguri SA08 | Honda RA808E 2.4 V8 | AUS Ret |
MAL 15 |
BHR 16 |
ESP Ret |
TUR WD |
MON |
CAN |
FRA |
GBR |
GER |
HUN |
EUR |
BEL |
ITA |
SIN |
JPN |
CHN |
BRA |
22nd | 0 |
Sporting positions | ||
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Preceded by Ricardo van der Ende |
Formula Ford Festival Winner 2000 |
Succeeded by Alan van der Merwe |
Preceded by Jonathan Cochet |
FIA European Formula Three Cup / Pau Grand Prix winner 2001 |
Succeeded by Renaud Derlot |
Awards | ||
Preceded by Gary Paffett |
McLaren Autosport BRDC Award 2000 |
Succeeded by Steven Kane |
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