2014 FIA World Endurance Champion Anthony Davidson has announced that he will be retiring as a professional driver and that the 8 Hours of Bahrain, the final round of the 2021 FIA WEC season, will be his last in the cockpit
The 42-year-old Hertfordshire-based driver is currently in Bahrain for the final rounds of the 2021 FIA WEC season where Davidson, alongside teammates Roberto Gonzalez and Antonio Felix Da Costa, finished fifth overall and third in the LMP2 category in the penultimate round, the 6 Hours of Bahrain, piloting the “Mighty” #38 JOTA ORECA 07.
Davidson, Gonzalez and Da Costa currently lie third in the Endurance Trophy For LMP2 Drivers standings.
Breaking the news on social media, Davidson said:
“One more to go…which I’ve decided will also be my final race as a professional racing driver. It’s been an incredible and unforgettable journey and I thank all those involved along the way.”
Anthony Davidson began his racing career in karts before graduating to cars in 1999, winning the Kent class at the Formula Ford Festival in that year. After winning the Formula Ford Festival in 2000, Davidson drove one race for Carlin Motorsport in the Formula 3 European Cup in the same year he became test driver for the Lucky Strike BAR Honda in Formula 1. In 2002 he drove two races for KL Minardi Asiatech before his first outing in sportscars, piloting the Veloqx Prodrive Racing Ferrari 550 Maranello in the 2003 American Le Mans Series an in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Two seasons with Super Aguri F1 Team followed after which Davidson turned his full attention to sportscars. He became a factory driver for Peugeot, driving the #7 908 HD1 FAP to fourth place overall in 2011, alongside teammate Alexander Wurz and Marc Gené. After Peugeot’s withdrawal from the LMP1 category, Davidson was swiftly recruited by Toyota to join Sébastien Buemi and Stéphane Sarrazin in the #8 TS030 Hybrid.
Davidson endured a serious accident as the 2012 24 Hours of Le Mans entered its sixth hour when contact with the #81 Ferrari resulted in a heavy impact with the barriers and fractured vertebrae.
Davidson drove for Toyota for a further five seasons, winning the 2014 World Endurance Drivers Championship alongside teammate Sébastien Buemi. The duo took four victories to win the 2014 championship by a margin of 39 points over Audi Sport Team Joest’s André Lotterer, Benoît Tréluyer and Marcel Fässler.
Toyota moved Anthony Davidson to a reserve driver role in 2018 after two-time Formula 1 champion Fernando Alonso joined the team. Davidson signed for DragonSpeed to pilot its ORECA 07.
For the 2019-20 WEC season Davidson joined Kent-based JOTA Sport where the partnership with Félix da Costa and González began. The trio finished third in the LPM2 drivers’ standings for the 2019-20 season.
Alongside his racing commitments, Davidson has fulfilled the role of analyst for Sky Sports’ F1 coverage
After a career of which he can be immensely proud, everyone at EnduranceandGT wishes Anthony Davidson the very best of good lick as he begins the next chapter of his career.