Anthony Davidson shares the unbelievable amount he paid for his first two races in Formula 1

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The journey to reach Formula 1 isn’t easy for any driver and can be incredibly expensive.

Anthony Davidson was one of several talented young British drivers coming through the ranks in the 2000s, including future world champion Jenson Button.

Strong showings in British Formula Ford and British Formula 3 earned Davidson a spot as BAR’s test driver in 2001.

Learning from the likes of former world champion Jacques Villeneuve and race winner Olivier Panis would have helped the Brit’s development.

However, there’s only so much a driver can achieve by taking part in practice sessions and test days.

F1 was still very expensive back then, but there was a lot less money coming in from sponsors and few drivers were supported all the way through their careers by teams.

Davidson didn’t have that luxury, although in 2002, he mustered up enough backing to jump at the chance of making his debut in the sport.

Minardi were a midfield team during the 1990s, but a lack of funding meant that by the 2002 season, they were fighting at the back of the grid.

In an interview with the Formula 1 website, Davidson shared how his two-race stint with the team came about, what it was like briefly being Mark Webber’s teammate and how much the entire experience cost.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to do enough to justify racing for the team for the rest of the season.

Anthony Davidson paid £250,000 to race for Minardi for two Formula 1 Grand Prix

Minardi started the 2002 season with Webber and Malaysian driver Alex Yoong as their designated pairing.

However, Yoong was suspended after failing to qualify for three successive races, handing Davidson his opportunity.

Speaking about the experience, he said: “It was a gamble. “I’m glad I did it, but I learned the hard way. I paid for the privilege of driving the slowest car on the grid.

“I think it was a quarter of a million pounds back then for two races. I remember having a moment of feeling, ‘Oh my goodness, what have I done?’ It was a proper baptism of fire.

“Mark was a bigger bloke than me, stronger than me, and the car barely had power steering.

READ MORE: Why Anthony Davidson was so annoyed by Oscar Piastri’s US Grand Prix Sprint Race penalty

“The power steering had been designed for the Bridgestone tyre with the Arrows system, and they were running Michelins that year, which was a wider, fatter tyre with more grip. It would basically saturate the power steering at high loads and was so heavy.

“I could do a million laps in the BAR, but this thing beat me up and finished me off – I just ran out of arm strength.

“I was also carrying 10kg more fuel because we had a fuel pick-up problem, and knowing what I know now, that’s about three-and-a-half tenths a lap, so I was pretty happy with [what I did].”

Anthony Davidson handed one last shot in Formula 1 by Super Aguri

Davidson retired from both the Hungarian and Belgian Grand Prix, spinning off at the Hungaroring before suffering the same fate at Spa.

His Minardi was incredibly difficult to drive and despite starting last at both races, he wasn’t too far off Webber’s pace.

READ MORE: Oscar Piastri stuns Anthony Davidson with ‘never seen before’ incident at the Singapore Grand Prix

Davidson went on to race in Le Mans before being handed a one-off shot with BAR in 2005.

The British driver then got his first proper run in Formula 1 with Honda’s offshoot team Super Aguri in 2007 and 2008.

However, 21 Grand Prix later, he was unable to score any points and after four races in 2008, the team folded.
Davidson is still involved in F1 with Mercedes, and his analysis with Sky Sports F1 is guided by his years of experience in the sport, even if he didn’t compete in as many races as he would have liked.