 |
| Team |
Super Aguri |
| Nationality |
British |
| Podiums |
0 |
| Points |
0 |
| Grand Prix entered |
20 |
| World Championships |
0 |
| Highest race finish |
11 |
| Highest grid position |
11 |
| Date of Birth |
18/04/1979 |
| Place of Birth |
Hemel Hempstead |
|
 |
Having looked for a long time like he might be left on the shelf by Formula 1, Anthony Davidson finally completed a full grand prix season in 2007 – and proved that he more than deserved his place on the grid.
Only a variety of misfortunes prevented him from emulating his Super Aguri team-mate Takuma Sato's points-scoring feats.
His year was summed up by the bizarre Montreal incident where he ran as high as third, only to break his front wing on an errant beaver.
Even as the team lost ground after a sponsor defaulted and caused Super Aguri to curtail its already limited development programme, Davidson kept pushing and produced some of the qualifying laps of the season.
Unfortunately the Briton's position in the team remains vulnerable given the question marks over Super Aguri's finances.
However the team is determined to keep hold of Davidson if possible, knowing that his speed and work ethic are exemplary.
Career log
Davidson has been on the F1 scene since he was snapped up as a BAR-Honda test driver in late 2001.
Little did he realise that he would still be in that position half a decade later.
If anything, the team's admiration for him worked against Davidson.
There was no room in BAR's race line-up, but it was unwilling to lose a driver with his talent and feedback skills to a rival.
Davidson also lost out due to Button's indecision in 2004/5.
When it looked like Jenson was leaving BAR for Williams, Davidson was expected to slot into his vacant race seat.
But then BAR won the contractual tussle for Button.
Williams went after Davidson instead, then lost interest when BAR insisted that he would only be available for one season.
Other teams feared that after so long as a test driver, Davidson would be race rusty, and declined to take a risk on him despite his superb performances in Friday practice at grands prix.
Davidson did get the odd racing opportunity between 2002 and 2005.
He played a part in Prodrive's Ferrari GT programme, and was loaned to Minardi for two races in 2002.
Unfortunately he spun out of both, but his sheer speed caught the eye.
He also deputised for the unwell Takuma Sato at Sepang in 2005, only for his engine to fail on lap two.
That farce seemed to sum up the way Davidson's career was heading.
But Honda knew that he was simply too good to keep hidden any longer, and placed him alongside Sato at the fast-improving Super Aguri for 2007.
The early years
Davidson chased Button through the ranks in the late 1990s – emerging from a strong karting career to make his car racing debut in Formula Ford in late 1999.
Although he didn't match Button's FFord title victory, he did win the prestigious end-of-season Festival in 2000.
He then came up against Sato for the first time when they were paired at Carlin Motorsport in British Formula 3.
It was the more experienced Sato who swept to a dominant championship victory, but Davidson was more than a match for his team-mate by mid-season and ended the year with six wins and the runner-up spot.
At the time, no-one expected that five seasons would then pass before he raced regularly again.
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