Richards Hails Davidson as 'Star of the Day'

BAR boss David Richards hailed team test driver Anthony Davidson on Thursday after the Briton lapped second fastest in practice on his Monaco Grand Prix debut.

"Anthony Davidson, on only his first visit to Monaco, was clearly the star of the day," he said.

Although Davidson will not race on Sunday, allowed to practice only before handing over to the race regulars Briton Jenson Button and Japan's Takuma Sato, his time of 1:15.141 was impressive.

Ferrari's Michael Schumacher, a five times winner of the glamour race as well as a six times World Champion, was just 0.4 of a second quicker.

"It's a fairly tough circuit generally and quite daunting for the first few laps -- but I was really looking forward to getting out there," said Davidson, 25.

"It's one of those circuits that really moves you as a driver and perhaps more than any other circuit I would really love to be driving here for the rest of the weekend."

Davidson's efforts did not go unnoticed by other teams: "There's no doubt about it, he's a very fine driver," said Williams technical director Patrick Head, whose team has at least one vacancy for next year.