Davidson ready for race seat

BAR test driver Anthony Davidson is still chasing that elusive race seat in F1 for next season but is only fifty percent sure of success. Davidson made his F1 debut at the Hungarian Grand Prix for Minardi, temporarily replacing Alex Yoong. Yoong was ...

BAR test driver Anthony Davidson is still chasing that elusive race seat in F1 for next season but is only fifty percent sure of success. Davidson made his F1 debut at the Hungarian Grand Prix for Minardi, temporarily replacing Alex Yoong. Yoong was sidelined for two races for more testing after failing to qualify for three races. Davidson qualified with no problems for his brief first foray as race driver.

Anthony Davidson.

Photo by Minardi Formula 1.

"I've made up my mind that I am about 50 percent sure that I have a drive," he told Autosport. "It can either go one way or another, but we have got a few options. We are talking to all the teams that have drives available, that's Jordan, Jaguar, Toyota and Minardi and it doesn't take a genius to work out which drive would be the best to take. We have just got to sit back. I am not going to worry about it, I am just going to wait for it."

Minardi boss Paul Stoddart was impressed with Davidson and the British driver thinks he has proved his worth on track: "I am pretty sure that one day I will land an F1 drive," he said, "but I am not sure it will be next year. I hope it is, I am ready for it, and I think I have proved that I can be ready for it."

The remaining open seats for next year have been widely discussed, although the fact that Davidson includes Jordan in his list is interesting. Eddie Jordan has stressed he's not looking to replace either Giancarlo Fisichella or Takuma Sato, but Sato's future with the team is reputed to be on rocky ground. While Toyota, Minardi and Jaguar have had most of the grid linked with them at one point or another, Jordan has been keeping a low profile where its driver line-up is concerned.

Eddie Irvine has been linked with Jordan, reputedly because sponsor Benson and Hedges want a British driver on board -- which bodes well for Davidson -- but apart from that, the rumour mill has been fairly quiet on the subject. Meanwhile, the latest speculation is that Felipe Massa, ousted from Sauber in favour of ex-Jordan driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen, is in line for the remaining Toyota race seat along side recently signed Olivier Panis.