Seat is Davidson's main concern

Asked whether Hungary's reputation as one of the most physically demanding races on the calendar was a concern, the level-headed 23-year-old grinned: "Yeah..."

But then he added: "The last few tests with BAR have been good and I've driven long distances at Mugello, which is probably tougher than here. I'm not worried about my neck, I'm just hoping that the seat position is good. We've done one seat fitting and it's okay but I'm still not fully happy with it.

"If I was doing this in a BAR I'd feel a lot more comfortable and at home, but going out there in a totally new car is an awful feeling. I know exactly what it's going to feel like - I'll be complaining bitterly about the seat tomorrow no matter how much I try to convince myself otherwise!

"The Indycar test [with Team Green] was the same - for the first half of the day you feel out of it, but gradually get used to it. At least the Minardi position is pretty similar to the BAR. When I sat in the Jordan [in readiness to replace Giancarlo Fisichella if the Italian had not been fit for Hockenheim] my legs went way up and that felt strange."

Davidson's 11th hour deal even left him bereft of overalls.
"I was on holiday in Finland," he explained. "I told my manager not to talk about racing and he stuck to it! The first I knew of it was when a journalist rang up and asked about my ride with Minardi. I didn't know what he was talking about so I got in touch with my manager on my last day and he said, 'yeah, actually, it's true, we're pretty close.'

"That was last Thursday. It seemed like the whole of Italy was on holiday and Sparco was closed. They've found something now but if I look a bit like Jacques Villeneuve this weekend, that's why!"