Racing twice in 2002 with Minardi and once again three years later with BAR Honda in 2005, Anthony Davidson’s Formula 1 career had a few false starts. But in 2007, he finally got a full-time shot with Super Aguri.

Although his F1 career ended just over a year later, Anthony is rightly proud to have reached the top of motorsport.

Speaking to Tom Clarkson, he discusses the ups and down of his time in F1 – telling us why he was a better test driver than racing driver, how his incredibly short-notice cameo at the 2005 Malaysian Grand Prix came about, why a groundhog cost him his best ever finish in F1, and what it was like to be involved in the so-called ‘Tyre War era’ of Formula 1.

Anthony also opens up about winning the World Endurance Championship with Sebastian Buemi in 2014 and why that meant so much to him having felt like ‘everything was lost’ after F1.

Now a simulator driver for Mercedes, Ant explains how much the sim technology has improved over time, what impact his work has on Mercedes’ performance during race weekends and whether sim racing makes Max Verstappen a better driver.

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Julian Barnes

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