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Anthony Denis Davidson (born 18 April 1979) is a British former 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. On 5 December 2008 Honda pulled out of Formula One due to financial problems. Ross Brawn bought out the team and formed Brawn GP and Davidson signed on as a test driver. On 16 November 2009, engine suppliers Mercedes-Benz bought out Brawn GP and re-named the team Mercedes GP. Davidson could not agree contract terms with Mercedes. Davidson did not participate in 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 returned in the 2010 edition, 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] However, in the Le Mans race his Peugeot car had an engine failure while leading.
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 has continued in the role through 2010 into 2011, as the BBC decided on an unchanged lineup for its radio Formula One coverage.[10] On 7th December 2011, Sky Sports announced that Davidson would join as a commentator in practice sessions from the 2012 season[11].
Davidson has expressed his desire to return to Formula One during his commentary duties, and was linked with incoming teams Virgin and Lotus.[12] However, he was unable to obtain a racing position on any of the teams for the 2011 season however In 2011 Davidson was announced as the reserve driver for Mercedes GP.
Davidson has been working as an advisor for Codemasters on F1 2009 (for Wii, PSP and iPhone/iPod Touch) since 2009, and F1 2010 (available for PC) which was released in September 2010. His helmet design is available to select for the user's driver in the game. Recently he has worked with Codemasters-Birmingham on their F1 2011 which has been released on 20~23 September 2011.
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.
He was friends growing up with the late Dan Wheldon, who competed in Indy Car.
* 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 | Class | No | Tyres | Car | Team | Co-Drivers | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | GTS | 80 | M | Ferrari 550-GTS Maranello Ferrari F131 5.9L V12 |
Veloqx Prodrive Racing | Kelvin Burt Darren Turner |
176 | DNF | DNF |
| 2009 | LMP1 | 008 | M | Lola-Aston Martin B09/60 Aston Martin 6.0L V12 |
Aston Martin Racing | Darren Turner Jos Verstappen |
342 | 13th | 11th |
| 2010 | LMP1 | 1 | M | Peugeot 908 HDi FAP Peugeot HDi 5.5L Turbo V12 (Diesel) |
Team Peugeot Total | Alexander Wurz Marc Gené |
360 | DNF | DNF |
| 2011 | LMP1 | 7 | M | Peugeot 908 Peugeot HDi 3.7L Turbo V8 (Diesel) |
Peugeot Sport Total | Alexander Wurz Marc Gené |
351 | 4th | 4th |
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| 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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