Anthony Davidson

Personal Details

Anthony Davidson (born April 18, 1979) is an English auto racing driver who is currently a test driver for the Honda Formula One team. He was born in Hemel Hempstead and currently resides in London. He is nicknamed 'Ant' due to his diminutive size.

Like most racing drivers, Davidson started racing in karts in 1987, racing in various British, European and North American championships. In 1999 he moved to cars, racing Formula Fords and winning the McLaren/Autosport Young Driver of the Year Award in 2000. In 2001 he competed in the European and British Formula Three championships, winning the former and coming runner-up in the latter, behind team-mate Takuma Sato, although from June onwards he scored more points than his more experienced team-mate. In this year he became the test driver for British American Racing (BAR), whilst in 2002 he started two races for Minardi, retiring from them both but impressing observers with his speed.

In 2004, BAR were able to run a third car in Friday morning testing, and Davidson was given the honour. 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 the race drivers Button and Sato did. Contrary to popular rumour, only 2 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 the latter team 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 ailing Takuma Sato at the 2005 Malaysian Grand Prix, but his Honda engine expired into flames just two laps into the event.

Anthony is still a test driver for BAR (now Honda Racing F1). He has a bigger role than in 2005, as Honda failed to be one of the top 4 constructors, meaning they can run a third friday driver.