Davidson proud to exceed expectations

The Briton just missed out on a slot in the final session of qualifying, but he was still overjoyed at the effort that equalled his best qualifying result in F1. He previously qualified 11th for the season opening Australian Grand Prix.

And Davidson said it was the best lap he had done in an F1 car since he set an unofficial lap record at Valencia in the Honda before the start of last season.

"I am very happy," he said. "I don't think I've driven a lap quite as good as that since I broke the unofficial lap record around Valencia. It gave me such a buzz.

"It was an incredible lap and one that you dream of doing when you are doing private testing or general testing.

"You do these laps every now and again, and none of the general public gets to see or none of the other teams do. But I did it here. It was awesome."

Although financial difficulties caused by the failure of major sponsor SS United to pay up has meant Super Aguri have had to ease off with development, Davidson is delighted that the outfit's fighting spirit remains strong.

"I asked my engineer before qualifying what he was expecting and he said anywhere from 15th to 20th," he explained.

"And I thought 15th was being a bit optimistic, so we had a little bit of an argument there. And then I went and put it 11th.

"It was way over our expectations, but we keep doing this every now and again here at Super Aguri. It is amazing to be that high up on the grid this far into the season when we haven't done anything to the car, and haven't had the budget to do it.

"We have found a good sweet spot of balance. I have done a good job, the team have done a good job, and here we are again in a very good position for the race.

"It is testament to everyone here that we never give up fighting."