ex-F3 star joins F1 team

Francesca · 13 Aug 2002, 12:53 (Ref:356825)

I know this really belongs in the F1 section of the forum but just in case some of you guys don't venture that way:

Anthony Davidson signed for Minardi today, as Mark Webber's teammate for the Hungarian Grand Prix next weekend. If all goes to plan Anthony will contest the remaining races to the end of the season with the Italian based team.

Anthony has not tested the PS02 and has never been to the Hungoring. His first experience of both will be in first official practice on Friday.

Nice one Ant!

Sato san · 13 Aug 2002, 13:19 (Ref:356848)

I am so glad im off work on friday ! Shall be following Ants progress very closley on Sky F1 .

Its going to be very hard for him to go in cold to that team , but lets just hope he can get it qualified and than he will get some mileage under his belt .

Great news !

Francesca · 13 Aug 2002, 13:21 (Ref:356851)

I don't have sky 1 so keep me posted.

Kimi · 13 Aug 2002, 14:09 (Ref:356883)

yeah great news! I hope he does really well!!!

Daisy · 13 Aug 2002, 14:29 (Ref:356890)

I personally think Davidson is better than Webber. It will of course difficult to beat him, because his has no experience in the Minardi ánd in Hungary, but he will do well. But the official annoucement tells he will race 2 races for Minardi. I expect than Bryan Herta will race in Italy and VS (home grand prix) and that Yoong will drive again in Japan.

bart_jacobs · 13 Aug 2002, 16:21 (Ref:356945)

Too bad that Bryan herta didn't get the drive,i want to see him racing at Spa! Hope anthony does well..

Sato san · 13 Aug 2002, 19:40 (Ref:357117)

Quote:

Originally posted by Francesca
I don't have sky 1 so keep me posted.

of course i will , i will come online and let you know how he's getting on in practice.

DanFlag · 13 Aug 2002, 21:23 (Ref:357240)

Good luck to him!

av8rirl · 13 Aug 2002, 22:19 (Ref:357296)

Quote:

Originally posted by Daisy
I personally think Davidson is better than Webber

I think so too, Daisy. Lets hope he does the biz...

**bella** · 14 Aug 2002, 02:24 (Ref:357416)

if he qualifies we should be worshipping him. i'd not expect him to do anything special, but to keep within a second of webber consistently would make it worth him being there. he can then build on that at spa.

good luck to him, he might just need it...

just a thought, this might prove to be an absolutely dire career move. a couple of none-deity drives and he could be facing the sharp end of the british american racing 'you're fired' letter. mind you, is he ever going to get a drive in f1? maybe it's just worth it to say he's had a go in one..

aussie_f3 · 14 Aug 2002, 03:56 (Ref:357436)

good point Bella - I am sure he is good enough to be there, and to qualify in a car that hasnt done many race miles would speak volumes for his ability - good luck I say - he will no doubt give it his best - who knows, he may do a "Webber" in his first F1 GP!!!!!

Sato san · 14 Aug 2002, 08:35 (Ref:357486)

Bella has a good point , but people at least need to have a open mind that he's walking into a new team , new track , and has never even tested for them .

**bella** · 14 Aug 2002, 13:31 (Ref:357697)

sadly though, the media in general tend to find more of a story in 'next british hope falls flat on his face' than 'next british hope holds his own'. i really hope people do give him time, but in reality, that probably won't happen.

Sato san · 14 Aug 2002, 13:38 (Ref:357704)

its a shame the media do that , of course they dont need to over hype someone either , but they do seem to get some enjoyment in putting them down when a driver is in a critical stage of his career .

**bella** · 14 Aug 2002, 14:11 (Ref:357718)

but would you read a paper if it said 'driver does ok in first race?' they're only responding to demand. they don't do it to put him down because he's in an important stage of his career, they do it because the editor looks at it and sees it's worth column inches. you don't see news stories saying 'everything's ok', so i guess the same goes for racing...

Francesca · 14 Aug 2002, 14:14 (Ref:357721)

I love reading success stories and I hate reading negative articles about drivers but maybe I'm unusual! No comments about me being unusual please!!!

bantam · 14 Aug 2002, 14:47 (Ref:357739)

ive known anthony since he was a cadet, he was always great fun to watch then and i think he will open a few eyes this weekend. good luck to him

Sato san · 14 Aug 2002, 16:21 (Ref:357787)

Quote:

Originally posted by Francesca
I love reading success stories and I hate reading negative articles about drivers

thats pretty much the way i feel as well.

Obviously i want to read the truth , so if there is some negative things to be said then i have to problem reading it , but i dont like a witch hunt ! , and sometimes it seems to me that the media can make or break a driver just by what they decide they want to do . All drivers go through bad patches in their careers , and its these points that i dont like it when some media circles decide to rubbish them .

I hope that they dont rubbish Ant in the same way that Jenson went through .

If a driver is performing badly then its ok to report that in full , but not all the other rubbish they they make up to go with it .

I hope they Just get behind Ant and give him some support .....But not try to make him into a national sporting hero overnight , just give him some good support and report the facts of his racing , not which girl he slept with 3 years ago or something which has nothing to do his performance in a race car.

Mr Jinxx · 15 Aug 2002, 17:50 (Ref:358507)

Anthony is a slow starter unfortunately. He is very talented, but always takes a long time to get into the swing, so I hope he can get more than just a couple of races to show his potential.

Rennen · 15 Aug 2002, 22:46 (Ref:358767)

Don't worry Sato San, no skeletons in Ants cupboard at all...he had no time really racing almost every weekend. Hes a clean living, one girlfriend man, doesn't drink or smoke. Hes never even had a speeding ticket! (don't know how he does that!) Passed his test first time! (boring!) He gets all his kicks outta motorsports.

**Craig** · 15 Aug 2002, 22:54 (Ref:358772)

Congrats to Ant for this. I might have had the odd dig over the years but he's proved me wrong when I said he'd never make it to F1. Well done!

Mr Jinxx · 16 Aug 2002, 01:06 (Ref:358810)

Odd isn't it? Ant doesn't look like the F1 package. He is a very quick (which normally means a very committed, banzai driver) without charisma. I don't mean that in an unkind way, as I know him well and I love him more than a crate of Stella, but he doesn't have any charisma whatsoever, nor any distinguishing features. No Valentino Rossi this guy. If Ant makes it, it's on talent alone, and I for one, will be really happy for that. The Button "media-friendly" approach really irritates me, although I know that's the line we all have to take nowadays unfortunately . If Ant can make it on ability alone, then that's the way it should be, and hats off to Ant and to his managers for that.

av8rirl · 16 Aug 2002, 08:19 (Ref:358879)

Jinxx: You just described TGF!!! Quick, no charisma. Hope AD is even half as successful.

Sato san · 16 Aug 2002, 08:32 (Ref:358891)

Quote:

Originally posted by Rennen
Don't worry Sato San, no skeletons in Ants cupboard

thats good then Rennen , lets just hope the media give him their support then .

BennyBoy1978 · 16 Aug 2002, 09:21 (Ref:358917)

Quote:

Originally posted by Mr Jinxx
I love him more than a crate of Stella

Blimey!!

Good luck to Ant today hope he does well! would be intresting if he out qualified Webber that would really put the cat among the pigeons

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