Davidson Reconciled to Missing Out on F1 Drive

British Formula One hope Anthony Davidson faces a season in the shadow of former teenage rival Jenson Button after accepting that he is unlikely to secure a race drive in 2003.

Button, 22, is moving from Renault to British American Racing (BAR), where his 23-year-old compatriot is the main test driver. The two regularly competed against each other in karting and renewed their rivalry in Formula One last season when Davidson raced in two Grands Prix as a stand-in for underperforming Malaysian Alex Yoong at Minardi.

Davidson has been linked since then to the U.S. CART series and drives at both Minardi and Jordan, where the need for sponsorship has left Japan's Takuma Sato in danger of being dropped.

"(America) was an option at the beginning and then we were in talks with Jordan but that's not looking too promising any more," he said during testing at the Circuit de Catalunya today. "I think they (Jordan) were keen to have me, I think they still are, but it comes down to money at the end of the day, doesn't it?

"It's hard for everyone out there at the moment so it's going to be a tough decision for Eddie (Jordan) to make, I reckon. We've still got the contract here at BAR so that's what we're going to be doing for next year."

Driver Options

Briton Eddie Irvine, the 37-year-old dropped by Jaguar, and Sauber's Brazilian reject Felipe Massa have emerged as Sato's main rivals. Minardi, who were impressed by Davidson's performances in Hungary and Belgium, have yet to name their drivers and have made clear that both will have to bring sponsorship.

Briton Justin Wilson is a favoured candidate, providing he can secure the necessary backing, along with Dutchman Jos Verstappen. Davidson said the Italian team, who have acted as a springboard for drivers such as Italians Giancarlo Fisichella and Jarno Trulli and most recently have seen Australian Mark Webber graduate to Jaguar, wanted $3 million.

"It's not really worth paying that much," he said. "A it wouldn't be worth it and B we didn't have it. As soon as you are a paying driver, you're a paying driver for ever so we're never going to pay to drive."

Button arrives at the end of the year once he is contractually free from Renault and Davidson was relaxed about the prospect of working with him at BAR.

"In my head I've already accepted it so it will be easy. But in the beginning it was a bit of a shock when I first heard he had got the drive," he said.

BAR have spent heavily and achieved little for the money since arriving in Formula One in 1999, when they failed to score. The Honda-powered team finished last season eighth overall with seven points. Team boss David Richards has revamped the team since he took over in late 2001 and brought in Geoff Willis as technical director.

Davidson said the new car promised to be a big improvement and he was looking forward to regular action with BAR likely to opt for testing throughout the season rather than extra time on pre-race Fridays.

"I think we're going to be working flat out next year with a lot of testing, so that'll be good for me. We'll have a better car next year for sure, it will be better than this year's car and it will be good fun to gain on the experience I've had already."