Davidson back behind wheel for BAR

The British Formula 3 frontrunner was announced as one of BAR's development drivers at the beginning of the year, but until last week had not driven an F1 machine.

Depsite completing only straight line aerodynamic work, the current McLaren Autosport BRDC Award winner kept his nose clean and impressed the team enough to get another run at Mugello next week, alongside F3 team mate Takuma Sato.

"It totally lived up to my expectations," Davidson told Autosport's sister title Motorsport News. "I was quite apprehensive at first - I knew I was going to be judged on my performance.

"The whole F1 package is most impressive. The car feels darty like a kart, but the mechanical and aerodynamic grip levels are just incredible. All the electronics and buttons made it feel just like playing the PlayStation."

Despite racking up the miles at Vairano, Davidson was relieved to bring the car home safely.

"We did lots of mileage. But I don't know whether the team was impressed, or just relieved I didn't crash," he said.

Sato, who leads the F3 standings from Davidson, also ran with the team last week at Mugello and both Carlin team mates are expected to go head to head next week.