Forget him at your peril!...

Forget him at your peril! Anthony Davidson is the fourth Briton in this year’s Formula One title race – lining up next to Jenson Button, David Coultч­hard and fellow rookie Lewis Hamilton.

And the racer from Hemel Hempч­stead in Herts thoroughly deserves his promotion to the big-time – albeit only as team-mate to Takuma Sato at last year’s tail-ender, Super Aguri.

He first impressed by finishing as runner-up to Sato in the 2001 British Formula Three series – an achievement that was all the more noteworthy as it was only his second season racing. Since then, Davidson has been hoverч­ing close to a full-time F1 seat as test and reserve driver at BAR and Honda.

But the frustrating five-year wait is now over and, starting in Melbourne on 18 March, he will be spending his Sunday afternoons racing Ferч­nando Alonso, Kimi Raikkonen and company. “Frustrating is the right word,” agreed the 27-year-old when we met at Super Aguri’s Oxfordч­shire HQ last week. “I never lost hope of landing a drive, but it seemed it wouldn’t happen. This opportunity came a bit later than I’d hoped, yet it’s good enough for me.”

While acknowledging Super Aguri isn’t Ferrari or McLaren, Davidson feels he’s joined a team capable of making decent progress during the forthcoming campaign. He’s delighted by what the F1 newcomer achieved in its first season, when developing what was essentially a four-year-old Arrows chassis into a semi-competitive package, and is conч­vinced the outfit will take another significant step forwards.

He continued: “It’s impressive what Super Aguri has done. I was surprised it made it to the opening race in Bahч­rain last season, and while the cars were initially six seconds off the pace, by the end of the year they had closed to within two seconds of the Ferraris – that’s a massive gain. At the final race in Brazil, where Sato came 10th, Super Aguri was quicker than Spyker. Without being over-ambitious, it’s up to us to build on that momentum.

“Every team wants to win, but it’s all relative, and we must be realistic. A world championship point would be good for a squad in its second year; a point would be perfect for me, too.”

The arrival of an all-new Honda-powered racer is sure to boost Super Aguri’s performance, and Davidson’s testing knowledge will be another important asset. In his role as underч­study to Button, Rubens Barrichello and others, he’s been quietly learning his trade in the F1 shadows.

“We had an open relationship at Honda, and I built up a lot of experience which I’m now taking to Super Aguri,” Anthony said. “I have stuff in my pocket that I can bring out in the months ahead to help the team grow.”

While no one in the pitlane doubts Davidson’s ability to give constructч­ive technical feedback, a question mark hangs over his ability to mix it with the stars when the flag drops. Since his F3 days, he’s barely raced at all. Three grands prix in five years – two with lowly Minardi in 2002 and one as a late reserve for a sick Sato at BAR in Malaysia in 2005 – along with a couple of GT rounds in a Ferrari suggest he’s short on match practice.

“It shouldn’t be a problem as I’ve been competing in karts since I was eight,” countered Davidson. “And while the race in Malaysia lasted for only a couple of laps, it clicked back straight away and I enjoyed it. The buzz I had on the grid makes me really excited about this chance with Super Aguri.”

Racing for one of the lesser teams has its advantages, too. While fellow Brit Hamilton will be under pressure to deliver alongside Alonso at McLaren, the strain on Davч­idson will not be as great. So would Anthony swap places?

“That’s a very difficult question,” he replied. “Lewis has the recent racing experience, and has not been sitting there as a tester for five years. From that respect, it will be easier for him. But I obviously know GP cars better.

“F1 is what I’ve done for the past five years, so that makes it very different. We’ve both got big challenges, but they’re not the same. He’s joined a top team where the expectations are not only higher but the consequences of making a mistake are also bigger. When you are learning – as we both are – mistakes are inevitable. He also has to measure himself against a mega team-mate in the world champion.”

Either way, after following difч­ferent career routes, Davidч­son and Hamilton have earned their places at opposite ends of the F1 grid. And the arrival of two top-class homegrown talents is great news for British motorsport.