Anthony Davidson

Anthony Davidson Davidson in 2011 Born (1979-04-18) 18 April 1979 Formula One World Championship career Nationality British Active years 2002, 2005, 2007–2008 Teams Minardi, BAR, Super Aguri Races 24 Championships 0 Wins 0 Podiums 0 Career points 0 Pole positions 0 Fastest laps 0 First race 2002 Hungarian Grand Prix Last race 2008 Spanish Grand Prix 24 Hours of Le Mans career Participating years 2003, 2009 - Teams Veloqx Prodrive Racing Aston Martin Racing Team Peugeot Total Toyota Racing Best finish 2nd (2013) Class wins 0

Anthony Denis Davidson (born 18 April 1979) is a British racing driver from England, born in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire. He has raced in Formula One for Minardi and Super Aguri, and has been a test and/or reserve driver for the British American Racing, Honda and Brawn GP teams. He is currently a factory driver for the Toyota Le Mans team, an analyst for the Sky Sports F1 HD television channel, and simulator driver for Mercedes AMG Petronas.

Career

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. 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, 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 and the FIA European Cup.

Formula One

BAR and Minardi

In late 2000, Davidson became the test driver for the British American Racing (BAR) Formula One team for the 2001 season. 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. 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 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. 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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^{[citation needed]} 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.

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.

Super Aguri

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

On 15 November 2006, Super Aguri confirmed that Davidson would partner Takuma Sato for the 2007 Formula One season. 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.

Davidson driving for Super Aguri at the 2008 Malaysian Grand Prix.

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.

Return to Honda

Davidson was announced as a Honda 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 renamed the team Mercedes GP. Davidson continued in his role and reserve and development driver.

Sportscars

Davidson at Road Atlanta for the 2011 Petit Le Mans race.

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. The trio warmed up for Le Mans by leading a Peugeot 1-2 in the 2010 12 Hours of Sebring. However, in the Le Mans race his Peugeot car had an engine failure while leading. Following Le Mans, Davidson raced at the 2010 6 Hours of Silverstone with Nicolas Minassian and secured victory for Peugeot Sport. In October 2010, Davidson secured pole position at Petit Le Mans, and went on to finish second with team-mates Alex Wurz and Marc Gené.

In 2011, racing the 908 for Peugeot Sport, Davidson along with Wurz and Gené, won the 6 Hours of Spa, and finished 4th at the Le Mans 24 Hours. Teaming up with Sébastien Bourdais, Davidson went on to win the 6 Hours of Imola, and the 6 Hours of Zhuhai, victories which helped Peugeot Sport secure the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup (ILMC) Championship for the second year running.

With Peugeot pulling out of factory sports car competition, Davidson signed with Toyota to drive its Toyota TS030 Hybrid in the 2012 24 Hours of Le Mans. Five hours into the race, as Davidson was lapping the AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia GTC of Piergiuseppe Perazzini, the two cars collided at the end of the Mulsanne Straight. The collision turned Davidson's car sideways before becoming airborne, flipping through the air, before landing back on its wheels and made heavy contact with the barriers. Davidson initially tried to get out of his car before calling for assistance; he was later transferred to hospital where he was later diagnosed with fractures to the eleventh and twelfth thoracic vertebrae of his back.

Commentating

He has since been heard as a co-commentator on selected Grands Prix for BBC Radio 5 Live. This became permanent on 13 February 2009, when it was announced he would commentate alongside David Croft for the 2009 season. Davidson has continued in the role through 2010 into 2011, as the BBC decided on an unchanged lineup for its radio Formula One coverage. On 7 December 2011, Sky Sports announced that Davidson would join its team as an analyst for race weekends, and would be commentating on practice sessions from the 2012 season.

Helmet

During the studio for the 2013 USA Grand Prix Qualifying Davidson admitted that his design was inspired by Eddie Cheever's helmet. When he was in the early days of his career he saw the picture of Eddie's helmet and together with his father who is a graphic designer did the design he has been using for most of his career.

Mercedes (2011-present)

Davidson was linked with incoming teams Virgin and Lotus for the 2010 F1 season. However, Davidson did not secure a 2010 race seat in F1, and instead turned his focus to racing sports cars. In F1 he continued his long-standing relationship with the Brackley based Mercedes F1 Team, combining duties as reserve and simulator driver in 2010 and 2011, and continuing his simulator role into 2012 and 2013.

Codemasters Formula One games

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 F1 2011 and F1 2012.

Personal life

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. When Andrew was up for eviction in week two, housemate Darren nominated him giving the reason for the nomination, being that his brother had a race the following week and would want to leave the house to see him. Andrew was evicted that week.

He was friends growing up with the late Dan Wheldon, who competed in Indy Car.

Racing record

Career summary

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	Manor Motorsport	1	0	0	4	29th
	TOCA British Formula Ford	Haywood Racing	14	2	3	122	3rd
	Formula Ford Festival World Cup		1	1	1	N/A	1st
2001	Formula One	Lucky Strike BAR Honda	Test driver
	British Formula Three	Carlin Motorsport	26	7	6	272	2nd
	European Formula Three Cup Series		4	1	2	N/A	1st
	Masters of Formula Three		1	0	0	N/A	3rd
2002	Formula One	Go KL Minardi Asiatech	2	0	0	N/A	NC
		Lucky Strike BAR Honda	Test driver
2003	Formula One	Lucky Strike BAR Honda	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	Lucky Strike BAR Honda	Test driver
2005	Formula One	Lucky Strike BAR Honda	1	0	0	0	NC
2006	Formula One	Lucky Strike Honda Racing F1 Team	Test driver
2007	Formula One	Super Aguri F1 Team	17	0	0	0	23rd
2008	Formula One	Super Aguri F1 Team	4	0	0	0	22nd
		Honda Racing F1 Team	Test driver
2009	Formula One	Brawn GP F1 Team	Test driver
	Le Mans 24 Hours	Aston Martin Racing (LMP1)	1	0	0	N/A	13th
	FIA GT Championship	Nissan Motorsport (GT1)	1	1	1	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
2011	American Le Mans Series	Peugeot Sport† (LMP1)	2	1	1	N/A	N/A
	Le Mans Series		2	2	1	31	N/A
	Le Mans 24 Hours		1	0	0	N/A	4th
	Formula One	Mercedes GP Petronas F1 Team	Test driver
2012	Le Mans 24 Hours	Toyota Racing (LMP1)	1	0	0	N/A	DNF
2013	Formula One	Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team	Test driver
	World Endurance Championship	Toyota Racing (LMP1)	1	0	0	15	3rd*
	Le Mans 24 Hours	Toyota Racing (LMP1)	1	0	0	347	2nd

^* 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.

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			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	MON	CAN	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	EUR	BEL	ITA	SIN	JPN	CHN	BRA		22nd	0

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
2003	Veloqx Prodrive Racing	Kelvin Burt Darren Turner	Ferrari 550-GTS Maranello	GTS	176	DNF	DNF
2009	Aston Martin Racing	Darren Turner Jos Verstappen	Lola-Aston Martin B09/60	LMP1	342	13th	11th
2010	Team Peugeot Total	Alexander Wurz Marc Gené	Peugeot 908 HDi FAP	LMP1	360	DNF	DNF
2011	Peugeot Sport Total	Alexander Wurz Marc Gené	Peugeot 908	LMP1	351	4th	4th
2012	Toyota Racing	Sébastien Buemi Stéphane Sarrazin	Toyota TS030 Hybrid	LMP1	82	DNF	DNF
2013	Toyota Racing	Sébastien Buemi Stéphane Sarrazin	Toyota TS030 Hybrid	LMP1	347	2nd	2nd

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

Year	Entrant	Class	Chassis	Engine	Tyres	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Rank	Points
2012	Toyota Racing	LMP1	Toyota TS030 Hybrid	Toyota 3.4 L V8 (Hybrid)	M	SEB	SPA	LMS Ret	SIL	SÃO	BHR	FUJ	SHA	NC	0
2013	Toyota Racing	LMP1	Toyota TS030 Hybrid	Toyota 3.4 L V8 (Hybrid)	M	SIL 3	SPA 4	LMS 2	SÃO Ret	COA 2	FUJ 15	SHA Ret	BHR 1	3rd	106.25

* Season in progress

External links

• www.anthonydavidson.com
• Anthony Davidson profile and statistics
• Career statistics pre F1 and F1 career
• F1Fanatic Who's Who: Anthony Davidson

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