Q: Give us an idea what you do, what your job as a third driver entails?
Anthony Davidson: We just have a bit of fun on Fridays! Basically I do general testing, basically we are limited on time and we can only do tyre evaluation work and minimal set-up work as well. But yeah, well, basically some of the times they will take my set-up work on to the race car.
Q: You seem to do more laps than anyone else, what is the reason for that?
AD: Erm, fitter! No, we have a programme we run to and if we do more laps than anyone else then it is because we can, because we have unlimited mileage on the third car engine and we don't have to save that for the race so we can just keep pounding around and get as much data as we can for the race weekend.
Q: You often set very quick times, you are always up there, so we asked Jenson what sort of question we should ask you and he said ‘how much fuel do you run' and then I suggested, well how much more revs are you allowed?
AD: He has been winding me up! Just now he said I was on 15kg every time I go out! But, no, me and him are joking about it all the time. Basically we are pretty close now and we have known each other for ages as well, so we can joke about these things. In the general testing I am really close to him now so it is good. It is better for him, better for Takuma as well. The closer I am to them the more relevant the testing is, so it is good for everybody in the team.
Q: Are you saying you do run more revs or you run less fuel?
AD: I run more revs, but it is not much. But we are on the same fuel load all the time.
Q: So you must be pretty pleased with your performances in testing. You normally keep it on the prepared surface and you've been pretty quick as well, so what does the future hold for you?
AD: I have been quick. A lot of it is real genuine lap time. The last run that was really amazing was at Indy, where I actually had more fuel than the two race drivers when I did that time and we did 19 timed laps, so that was a really good one for me there. Basically, the reason I am going faster is that we are really close on speed it is just I get more tyres. So it is flattering me in a way but the times have been really good in general testing anyway, away from the media. We have days when I can be on top of those guys and I come away really happy but nobody really gets to know about it. The future is looking quite good, I have signed a new management deal and Dave and Steve Robertson have come on board to help me and my current manager. So the future is looking promising but there are no discussions that have happened yet and we are just waiting to finalise our plans and move forward together.
Q: Would you be guaranteed some sort of job with BAR if you were to stay?
AD: Yeah, I actually have got a long-term contract with BAR and without being cocky; they would reluctantly let me go to another team to let me race, so I would like to thank them for that. They have been really supportive the whole way through and they would continue to be if we landed something for next year. If not, then we continue doing the testing and, you know, try again.
Q: You are working for a competitive team, is there a certain level down to which you would race?
AD: Oh, beggars can't be choosers, but at the end of the day we haven't got any money so we can't pay to be at the back of the grid. It is what I have said all along - I would if I had a sponsor, any day, but we don't, so we can't.
Q: Thank you. Mark, sorry to keep you waiting…
Mark Webber: Oh, about time!
Q: What about your future. When can we expect…
MW: I know everything and you guys know nothing. That is how it will be today.
Q: But, if things changed…
MW: Things are not going to change. I mean, everything, erm, yeah, it's quite interesting at the moment. But, erm, yeah, some decisions have been, er, made, I suppose, so now we are just going to see how it all pans out in the next two races.
Q: What is going to happen with Jaguar because it has been fairly disappointing? Are we going to see improvement there?
MW: Last weekend was a very good race for us, we finished within 30 seconds of the podium, obviously there was very low attrition with only one really competitive car, Takuma, retiring. The team did an awesome job, as I say, finishing close to a podium without getting any points is a bit of a shame. The outcome for this race is we are hoping for attrition to get points, you have got to get there on pace alone, so in general Magny-Cours was a very strong weekend for us, but we have got people ahead of us in the championship that we lapped in Magny-Cours but they are ahead in the championship because they finished on the days where there was a lot of attrition and we were part of that attrition, i.e. Canada, Indy, Monaco. So it has been bloody frustrating, to be honest, but we are all in it together, the guys were working incredibly hard and will do so this weekend as well. And we will try to get as close as we can to the pace and work for a very good set-up for the race and get as many points as we can.
sign in