Anthony Davidson Q&A

"I got one of the best starts of the year or probably the best start, and took the lead in the first corner. I then drove like it was qualifying for about the first five laps and everything just seemed to come together. There was no luck involved at all, just sheer pace. The car was unbelievable and I just had fun really. Because the races are shorter in British F3, we are all used to going ballistic at the start of the race. Takuma [Sato] and me were just absolutely on it from the start and it seemed like all the French guys were half asleep, so I think that's where the British series helps."



"It was my first race on a street circuit in a car. I have raced in a kart at Monaco, but never in a car and now I have 110 per cent respect for any driver that does Monaco in Formula 1. The feeling is just absolutely awesome on a street circuit and you can't imagine what that must feel like. Just from doing this race - it was hard, the hardest race I've ever done. Not in terms of pressure, but definitely in physical terms. It was so hot and to spend 45 minutes round such a tight circuit was draining. I drank so much and I was bursting for the toilet before the start the race, but I think I must have just burnt it all off because when I came in I just downed a whole litre of water."



"No, it was completely unexpected, but I just seemed to gel with the track and felt on top of things all weekend. I woke up this morning with this feeling that I was going to win. I had the same feeling before winning the Formula Ford Festival and also before winning the Young Driver award and I had the same feeling here."



"I was just sitting in the car cool and relaxed, well not cool because I was sweating like a pig, but I was cool in my mind and I tried to focus on enjoying the race. That's been the main theme of the weekend - fun. The whole thing has been a lot of fun and that's helped to take the pressure off me. I've enjoyed every lap I've driven around this circuit and that's really made a difference. I didn't care if I was slow or fast because it was such a mega track. In the post-race press conference they said to me 'through the monument section you always looked crazy and were jumping, didn't you think that was dangerous?' I just said 'Yes it was, but it was more fun that way...'"



"I think I can try and follow the same attitude back in England. It's a bit like when I won the Festival. I think this takes a lot of pressure off me and it proves to people that I can learn new circuits quickly and I can go back to the British series with my head up as one of the guys to beat now. The last couple of races in Britain have been really good and a race like this was just waiting to happen. The team did a great job and we've gone from being average to dominant in just two days."



"I think it helped me a lot, because there are a lot of European drivers that only compete in their domestic championships, but I grew up competing against the best guys in the world and these guys don't phase me."



"Not in the slightest. You've got the championship leaders from Europe's three major championships and there are guys here that could come over to England and learn the tracks over there, just as quickly as I've come here and they could win races no problem. Look at [Andre] Lotterer. He was fourth in the German championship and he absolutely dominated at Donnington in April. Formula 3 is a lot about having the right car but this track is a lot about drivers, so it's great to come here and win. It's a fantastic feeling."



"I think sometimes when you're competing in the same national series all the time, it gets a bit bitchy, like between Takuma [Sato] and Derek [Hayes] and myself, and no-one wants that. You just want to get on and do your job. Over here, if you crash into someone they don't speak the same language as you, they don't come up to you and it's just a nicer feeling. But it's good for the British series that we have come over here and won, because now the rest will go away and hopefully think that the British series is the best in the world. And maybe that's why we do bitch and moan at each other so much in Britain, because it is so competitive."