Ant to get race seat in 2007?

Marbot · 22 Apr 2006, 09:58 (Ref:1591644)

Honda have plans for Davidson.http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=35638

luke · 22 Apr 2006, 10:06 (Ref:1591648)

Quote:

Honda’s senior management plans to grant Anthony Davidson a race seat in 2007 for its “B-team” Super Aguri Racing next year, ITV Sport has learned.

Honda Racing’s president Yasahiro Wada believes that the Englishman has earned his place in Formula 1 and should be given a chance to prove himself with a full-time drive next year.

And should Super Aguri make the strides in competitiveness that the Japanese manufacturer expects will come from a new chassis and development, Davidson will be placed in one of its cars.

There was me thinking you meant the actual Honda team, but it's still a ride in F1 and they should be much better by 2007.

Marbot · 22 Apr 2006, 10:09 (Ref:1591652)

Quote:

Originally Posted by luke

There was me thinking you meant the actual Honda team,

There's time yet!,no offence to Rubens of course.

Dixie Flatline · 22 Apr 2006, 11:27 (Ref:1591702)

* Looks to see if Rennen has posted in this thread yet.

Sees that Rennen hasn't posted.

Will keep watching. *

DeoValente · 22 Apr 2006, 12:39 (Ref:1591741)

I dont think Davidson will race in 2007. Seems the failing testdrive routine he shows at fridays also came to the attention of Renaults Pat Symonds.

http://f1.racing-live.com/f1/en/head...22093304.shtml

BootsOntheSide · 22 Apr 2006, 13:21 (Ref:1591783)

The article says "Davidson was in the frame for the second .... before he decided to stay on as the factory team’s Friday tester". Is this ITV spin, or did he actually turn the 2006 drive down?

Ant needs to race something next season. If he can't get a race drive in F1, he has to accept that he never will, rightly or wrongly. Deo's interpretation of Pat Symonds' words is a little strange - he was criticising Honda's overall use of the Friday test sessions, not Ant himself.

Silk Cut Jaguar · 22 Apr 2006, 13:41 (Ref:1591808)

If he doesn't race in F1 next season then the chances are he'll never get a fulltime drive in the championship. He may have the experience of pounding around the tracks doing the development work but the kids in GP2 are just as fast and have been actively racing against stiff competition for the last few years, which makes them just as good a prospect and even better in the long term I would imagine.

kipper · 22 Apr 2006, 14:27 (Ref:1591844)

I'd agree with the view that Anthony Davidson really needs a full time seat in F1 next year in order to progress. The risk with Super Aguri is that should the team fail to take a significant step forward, a season spent trailing around towards the back of the midfield (perhaps not an unlikely scenario, given the depth in quality in the midfield in contemporary F1); then this is unlikley to be conducive to a long term career in F1, given that a number of drivers have seen their F1 career fizzle out in similar circumstances.

DeoValente · 22 Apr 2006, 14:41 (Ref:1591851)

Quote:

Originally Posted by BootsOntheSide

The article says "Davidson was in the frame for the second .... before he decided to stay on as the factory team’s Friday tester". Is this ITV spin, or did he actually turn the 2006 drive down?

Ant needs to race something next season. If he can't get a race drive in F1, he has to accept that he never will, rightly or wrongly. Deo's interpretation of Pat Symonds' words is a little strange - he was criticising Honda's overall use of the Friday test sessions, not Ant himself.

Err..

""He wondered, adding that Honda have a 'Friday' spare car at their disposal while Renault do not: “I don't know if (Honda's tyre errors) shows a certain arrogance or what.”

The sparecar is not being driven by air or ghosts. Its being driven by Davidson and as such part of the criticism from Symonds.

I said it 2 weeks ago that it was all nice seeing him do fast laps all day long, but judging from Jensons Melbourne race he didnt gave good feedback on how the tyres performed to the extent Honda didnt know what to do for the rest of the weekend.
Anyway, i would suprise me to see him race next year.

Knowlesy · 22 Apr 2006, 14:52 (Ref:1591858)

It isn't down to Ants feedback, it is a chassis issue that needed/needs rectified!

I have no doubt Ant mentioned it. It isn't something that can be fixed with a quick tweak. It is a big issue.

Ferrari went an entire season fixing a tyre issue in 2000.....and even then, it wasn't completely ironed out until the F2002 was introduced! Do we call into question Badoer, Barrichello and Schumacher, their value as development drivers?

DeoValente · 22 Apr 2006, 15:05 (Ref:1591864)

The main aim of that piece at F1-live, was to quote Symonds' accusation that "key engineers have fudged the choice of Michelin tyres at every Grand Prix so far".

It has nothing to do with the Michelins themselves being wrong, he states that their choice of tyres is leaning towards arrogance. It is widely known that the sparecar drivers on friday, do the bulk of tyrecomparisments and give feedback on what and how the setup should be like. The engineers take the important decisions on their feed back. My point is that Davidsons feed back apparently, and Symonds seems to agree otherwise he doesnt mention the spare car, is a feeble one. Therefore i conclude as an amateur and armchair F1 fan, that Davidson is not gonna race in 2007.

Knowlesy · 22 Apr 2006, 15:08 (Ref:1591868)

Well, it'd be a travesty if he didn't.

BootsOntheSide · 22 Apr 2006, 15:27 (Ref:1591878)

Some teams have made the right choice of tyres without having a third driver at all, therefore it can't purely be Ant's fault. Pat Symonds did not even imply that Ant isn't giving the team enough feedback - the team are simply not making full use of it. Fading performance as the race goes on is happening for Honda irrespective of which tyre they choose - with the harder tyre the performance is fading slower, but from a slower peak, as you would logically expect. The same thing happened last year, again without a Friday tester.

Knowlesy · 22 Apr 2006, 15:30 (Ref:1591882)

Symonds is in no position to comment on Anthony Davidson's feedback in any case!

JeremySmith · 22 Apr 2006, 19:25 (Ref:1592025)

Quote:

Originally Posted by knowlesy

Symonds is in no position to comment on Anthony Davidson's feedback in any case!

Precisely! what the dickens is he talking about anyway? Ferrari made the wrong tyre choice in Melbourne, does that nullify their test drivers? not at all. I think AD will drive for Super Aguri next year and I am looking forward to it!

djinvicta · 22 Apr 2006, 22:01 (Ref:1592149)

Quote:

Originally Posted by JeremySmith

Precisely! what the dickens is he talking about anyway? Ferrari made the wrong tyre choice in Melbourne, does that nullify their test drivers? not at all. I think AD will drive for Super Aguri next year and I am looking forward to it!

Bit of luck, it will be after Imola this year

Sodemo · 22 Apr 2006, 22:03 (Ref:1592152)

Heh, wasn't he in for a race seat back in 2003?

JeremySmith · 23 Apr 2006, 21:21 (Ref:1593166)

Quote:

Originally Posted by djinvicta

Bit of luck, it will be after Imola this year

Well I have not seen the race yet, but from what I have read you could well be right there my friend

On the other hand until they have a car that is competitive then???

DeoValente · 24 Apr 2006, 16:09 (Ref:1593865)

Nope. Seems Davidson will keep on practising pit stops with HOnda as Aguri said they are likely to pout in another Japanese driver first. And Ide gets a last chance at the ring may 7th, according to the BBC.

Alan Raine · 24 Apr 2006, 17:24 (Ref:1593938)

IMO Anthony Davidson is a wasted talent plonking around in a third car and certainly deserves a better seat.

Ironically I have always liked Rubens, right from his F3 days, but he did drop off the pace very quickly - very strange.

DeoValente · 24 Apr 2006, 17:52 (Ref:1593968)

Davidson had his chance, did 2 races and spun off in both of them.

Knowlesy · 24 Apr 2006, 17:55 (Ref:1593971)

Went off trying though didn't he?

Was hassling the Jordans in his Minardi.

Still, I suppose that escaped your notice.

kipper · 24 Apr 2006, 18:02 (Ref:1593979)

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeoValente

Davidson had his chance, did 2 races and spun off in both of them.

Yes, but those races were in a Minardi, after only single seasons in Formula Ford and Formula 3. Also he was thrown in, mid season with little, if any, testing and was quite close to the more experienced Mark Webber. Also his BAR race last year, ended on lap 2 after engine failure. I'd argue that it would be unfair to judge Davidson only on his limited F1 outings.

DeoValente · 24 Apr 2006, 18:04 (Ref:1593982)

He was quick over a lap, but did spun off in 2 races and hasnt been taken up y any team for a raceseat since. Id say that says it all. There are more fast testdrivers who never got back to racing bcs of being unreliable in terms of scoring points (Wurz, Pizzonia, Zonta, Gene, etc).

BootsOntheSide · 24 Apr 2006, 21:31 (Ref:1594163)

Ant knew he only had a brief chance to impress, pushed as hard as he could (setting race laps faster than Webber), and lost nothing by going off the track, not damaging the car in either case. There aren't many drivers available for non-paying newcomers at the moment in any case.

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