Motor Sport: Latecomer Davidson Gets Big Break

Almost five years have passed since Anthony Davidson made his formula one debut as a Minardi team stand-in at the Hungarian grand prix. But this morning he celebrates his full-time promotion to the sport's senior category when the new Super Aguri is unveiled in the pit lane at Melbourne's Albert Park circuit.

At a time when the much-publicised Lewis Hamilton is starting his career at the wheel of a McLaren-Mercedes, Davidson's belated arrival on the scene for this weekend's season opener might be regarded as something of a minor footnote, coming a month before his 28th birthday.

Yet the former Honda test driver is simply relieved that the big opportunity has finally arrived after what he feels are too many years playing with the reserves. The fact that his new car was so late being completed after its chassis initially failed the mandatory FIA crash test - with the result that it goes into the first race completely untried and untested - is something he shrugs aside.

"It shouldn't really make too much difference at all," he said, making the point that he did all the winter testing using an interim development version of the 2006 car.

"I am not bothered about it at all. A formula one car is a formula one car at the end of the day and the main thing that has been the hardest part for us has been learning the new tyres. That above all has been the biggest thing.

"The other thing to be aware of is that, because the engines are strictly limited to a 19,000rpm operating limit, you must be precise in selecting the correct gear ratios.

"You also have to be accurate while shifting up through the gears because you want to get as close as possible to the maximum performance but the rev limiter cuts in quite hard which, in itself, could make overtaking quite dangerous." Did he ever wonder whether the big break would come? "I was always looking forward, telling myself that I was confident the chance would come," he said.

"The closest I got over the past few years were possible opportunities with Jaguar and Williams but neither of them happened. So I had to invest all my hopes that the Honda test driving deal would eventually lead somewhere and, happily, it has with Super Aguri.

"So at the end of the day I wouldn't say that I ever lost hope. I've been around long enough now to know that anything can happen in formula one."

By no stretch of the imagination can Davidson be considered a novice. Although his formula one racing experience is minimal he has gleaned plenty of recent experience of contemporary grand prix circuits. In his role as the Honda third driver he has participated in the Friday free practice session and many thousands of testing miles for the Brackley-based squad.

In that respect he made a significant contribution to Jenson Button's victory in last year's Hungarian grand prix. It is an achievement which he acknowledges was very satisfying but now he wants to put his testing role behind him as he concentrates on advancing his own driving career.

"It is certainly hard work doing formula one testing," he said. "Mentally and physically it takes a lot out of you. So it was a big relief for the whole Honda team when Jenson achieved his breakthrough and won that first race. And it was obviously satisfying for me as a team member to have played my part in the win, not only helping in selecting the tyre choice on the Friday but also working on the car's general set-up at tests prior to that race weekend."

Meanwhile some rival teams continue to insist that the new Super Aguri is nothing more than a thinly disguised clone of last year's Honda and therefore should not be permitted to score constructors' championship points. Everybody is now waiting to see if this potentially rancorous debate will spill over in public to sour the mood at the first race of the year in Australia on Sunday.

For the moment, however, Davidson is focused on performing in the first race of the season and how to manage his level of expectation. "I would like to score a world championship point this year and do it fair and square," he said as if to put his relatively modest ambitions into perspective. "On our day, when everything goes right, I think Super Aguri can be in a position to deliver that sort of result. And I want to be the one to do it."