The 2005 Malaysian Grand Prix was not a memorable one for BAR-Honda. Both cars were out by lap three, and predictably it was an opportunity for Autosport’s resident cartoonist Jim Bamber to poke fun. Having waited years for the opportunity to race a BAR in anger, long-time tester Anthony Davidson recalls his last-minute call up to replace an unwell Takuma Sato as an “unbelievably disappointing” weekend.
But it was a special one too as, for one race only, Davidson was a team-mate to old karting rival Jenson Button. In truth, they’d already spent two years working alongside one another, following Button’s arrival from Renault for 2003. In that period of unlimited testing, Davidson had ample opportunity to compare himself against his compatriot, and F1’s decision to allow teams to run a third car on Fridays in 2004 had provided Davidson a platform to stake a claim for a race seat by impressing in official practice sessions.
