Anthony Davidson

Davidson began kart racing in 1987, winning three British national championships (1993, 1994, 1995), an Italian championship, and finishing runner-up in the Formula A European championship in 1996. Moving to single-seaters in 1999, he won the 1600cc Kent class at the British Formula Ford Festival before finishing runner-up in the 2000 British Formula Ford championship while winning the Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch outright and earning the McLaren/Autosport Young Driver of the Year Award.

In 2001 Davidson competed in British Formula Three with Carlin, finishing second overall to teammate Takuma Sato — outscoring him from June to the end of the season. He also won the Formula Three Pau Grand Prix, the Spa Masters, and the FIA European Cup.

Davidson became a test driver for British American Racing (BAR) in late 2000. In 2002 he made two race appearances for Minardi, temporarily replacing Alex Yoong, qualifying within 0.6 seconds of teammate Mark Webber at both Hungary and Belgium, though he spun out of each event. He remained a BAR test driver in 2003 and 2004, with a third-car Friday testing role in 2004 demonstrating consistent pace — at Indianapolis he set the second fastest time in Friday practice after 19 laps. He stood in for an unwell Sato at the 2005 Malaysian Grand Prix but retired with engine failure after two laps.

When BAR became Honda Racing F1 in 2006, Davidson retained his test role and continued producing impressive times in Friday running. That year he also made his television commentary debut, standing in for Martin Brundle at the Hungarian Grand Prix for ITV Sport.

On 15 November 2006, Super Aguri confirmed Davidson would partner Takuma Sato for the 2007 season, giving him a full-time Formula One race seat for the first time. His best qualifying result in the SA07 came at several rounds, and his best race result was eleventh at the Spanish, Canadian, and United States Grands Prix. At the Canadian Grand Prix, he was running third when his car struck a groundhog on the straight approaching the pits, costing him the points place. A rear suspension failure at the Hungarian Grand Prix followed a collision with Giancarlo Fisichella.

Super Aguri retained Davidson for 2008 despite financial difficulties. However, on 6 May 2008 the team withdrew from the Championship after the Spanish Grand Prix, ending Davidson's Formula One driving career.

Davidson served as a Honda test driver for the remainder of 2008, then signed as a development driver with the rebranded Brawn GP. When Mercedes bought the team in November 2009 he continued as reserve and simulator driver through 2011, with a simulator role persisting from 2012 onward.

Davidson entered sportscar racing with Aston Martin at the 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans, finishing 13th overall in LMP1. He drove for Team Peugeot Total at the 2010 Le Mans, leading before engine failure struck; he and teammates Alexander Wurz and Marc Gene won the 2010 6 Hours of Silverstone and later secured victory at the 6 Hours of Imola and 6 Hours of Zhuhai in 2011 to help Peugeot win the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup for the second successive year.

After Peugeot's withdrawal, Davidson joined Toyota for the 2012 24 Hours of Le Mans driving the Toyota TS030 Hybrid. Five hours into the race he was lapping the AF Corse Ferrari of Piergiuseppe Perazzini when the two cars collided at the end of the Mulsanne Straight. Davidson's car became airborne and landed back on three wheels before hitting the barriers heavily. He escaped the car under his own power but was later diagnosed with fractures to the eleventh and twelfth thoracic vertebrae.

Returning in 2013, Davidson and his Toyota teammates finished second at Le Mans and third in the championship. In 2014, driving the Toyota TS040 Hybrid, he won four races during the WEC season including a third place at Le Mans, and clinched the World Endurance Drivers' Championship alongside Buemi. After a successful but less title-winning 2017 season — taking five victories — Davidson was displaced from the No. 8 Toyota entry to allow Fernando Alonso to contest the 2018-19 superseason. He subsequently moved to the LMP2 class with DragonSpeed and later Jota, retiring at the end of 2021.

Davidson joined BBC Radio 5 Live as a Formula One co-commentator in February 2009 alongside David Croft, a role he continued into 2011. In December 2011 he was announced as a Sky Sports F1 analyst, with duties from the 2012 season onwards. He has lent his voice to eleven editions of the official F1 video game series since 2009. Davidson also serves as a lead commentator on the global FIA World Endurance Championship feed alongside Martin Haven and Graham Goodwin, from the 2022 season.