38 F1 RACING AUGUST 2019
corner, it’s got grip. It’s got great
traction. The only limitation
is how much the tyre can load,
that’s the point at which the car
says, ‘I can’t go any faster’.”
From year to year, F1’s
development cycle to create a
car better than its predecessor
requires a driver’s input to
help guide the technical team
and explain where a poor car
is lacking. But ultimately the
driver is at the mercy of the
technical team for the car he
races in. Former BAR test driver
Davidson recalls asigni ficant
shift in performance from one
year to the next as suddenly, a
series of badcars turned good.
“The BAR004 was very boxy,”
he explains.“It had a highcentre
of gravity, unsophisticated aero
and hadn’t progressed fromthe ca r before. Then,in th e winter
of 2003,the 005 appeared, designed by Geoff Willis.
“On the out-lap it was incredible. It felt like we were
running on 10kg of fuel as opposed to 70kg. Itwas thatdifferent. “It stopped better, it had better traction, stability
at high speed and change of direction. You could feel it had
more downforce, a lower centre ofgravi ty and a better weight
distribution. At the limit, it was just calmer, you were fighting
it less – it just had more grip.I came into the pits after the
first five-lap timed run andsaid to my engineers, ‘guys, we’ve
got a good car.’ They knew, after years of driving slow cars,
that I knew what I was talking about.”
While Davidson recalls with claritythe night and day
transformation between those twoF1 cars, the best way to
sum up the difference, hesays, is with a road-going example.
“In a good road car, like aMercedes orPorsche,youfeel
like the boss. Every pothole vanishesand drivers get out of
yo ur way on themotorway. In aclap ped out old banger it’s
the opposite –you’re constantly looking in yourmirrors, feel
you’re in everyone’sway, andhave to work a lot harder at the
wheel. It’s a different world, and that’s exactly the sameinF1.”PRO
RACING03 Performance:Driving
“ON THE OUT-LAP THIS THINGWAS INCREDIBLE.
IT FELT LIKE WE WERERUNNING ON 10KG OF FUEL
AS OPPOSEDTO 70KG. IT WAS THAT DIFFERENT”
ANTHONY DAVIDSON’SFIRST IMPRESSION OF THE BAR 005Davidsonknewimmediatelythe
BAR 005(b ottom)wasamassi ve
impro vementonthe004(le ft)