Davidson quickly up to speed

If Anthony Davidson achieves nothing else as a racing driver he can boast a record-setting introduction of sorts to his Formula One career.

The 23-year-old Englishman was just 13 seconds into his first practice session for a Grand Prix here at the Hungaroring yesterday when he exceeded the pit lane speed limit by 2.2mph, incurring a fine of $1,000 (£640).

He finished the day with another piece of data to cherish. He had outpaced his Minardi team-mate, the widely acclaimed Mark Webber, by 0.036sec and avoided the bottom position on the time sheet.

Davidson, the test driver at BAR-Honda who has been released for an initial two races to replace Malaysia's Alex Yoong, had to borrow a mechanic's overalls, drive a Minardi for the first time and acquaint himself with the physically demanding Hungaroring.

'"It was enjoyable,'' he said. "I didn't push that hard because I had to learn the circuit and the car. Neither of us pushed that hard.'' Davidson has already learned that he must not exceed 37.3mph in the pit lane. He said: "I didn't put the [speed] limiter on because we're so close to the exit and I just wanted to get out there. I don't know who's going to pay the fine but it's not me. I've not got that much money.'' The work gets more serious today, when Davidson endeavours to do what Yoong failed to do on three occasions this season, and qualify for the race.

Davidson said: "Qualifying is my goal and I'll have to find a lot more out of the car. I don't know whether I'll be able to do that but I'm gaining confidence step by step. We should also manage to make the seat more comfortable for me. I hurt my lower back today. The seating was the biggest difference between this car and the BAR.''

Paul Stoddart, Minardi's team principal, stressed that Webber had been on a different strategy and that the relative times of his drivers was misleading. However, he added: "Anthony has done an excellent job. He kept it on the black stuff on the biggest day of his life, coming into Formula One. The pressure was immense and he did his stuff. That is the sign of a good driver. We can forgive him that little record at the start.''

The best driver did his stuff, too. Michael Schumacher, the world champion for a record-equalling fifth time, seeks a record 10th victory of the season, which would also confirm Ferrari as winners of the constructors' championship.

Schumacher was 0.6sec faster than his team-mate, Rubens Barrichello, who was almost three-tenths of a second quicker than Ralf Schumacher, in a Williams-BMW. Kimi Raikkonen, driving a McLaren-Mercedes, was fourth.

An expected increase in temperature may help the cause of the Michelin-shod Williams and McLarens, and Schumacher tempered his confidence with a note of caution.

The German said: "We have seen situations like this before, when we have been dominant on Friday and then failed to get pole on Saturday. However, we definitely have a good package.''

Schumacher has pledged his support to Barrichello, who is involved in a four-way fight for the runner-up spot in the championship. Juan Pablo Montoya, in the other Williams, currently heads that contest with 40 points. The younger Schumacher has 36, Barrichello 35, and McLaren's David Coulthard 32.

All would welcome the consolation prize, yet for the Williams and McLaren drivers the priority is to try to close the gap to Ferrari and give themselves a realistic chance of turning back the red tide next season. Coulthard was seventh yesterday, Jenson Button was 10th in a Renault, Eddie Irving 13th for Jaguar and Allan McNish 18th in his Toyota.

Arrows, missing this race to concentrate on negotiating a survival package, could be under new ownership at the Belgian Grand Prix in a fortnight. Craig Pollock, the former team principal of BAR who heads one of three bidders for Arrows, said yesterday: "We have no deal yet but I like to think we are ahead in the bidding. We must sort something out before Spa.''

HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX (Budapest) Free practice session (for tomorrow's race): 1 M Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari 1 min 16.346sec; 2 R Barrichello (Bra) Ferrari 1:16.952; 3 R Schumacher (Ger) Williams-BMW 1:17.228; 4 K Raikkonen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes 1:17.298; 5 G Fisichella (It) Jordan-Honda 1:17.399; 6 T Sato (Japan) Jordan-Honda 1:17.598; 7 D Coulthard (GB) McLaren-Mercedes 1:17.704; 8 F Massa (Br) Sauber-Petronas 1:17.704; 9 P de la Rosa (Sp) Jaguar 1:18.036; 10 J Button (GB) Renault 1:18.250; 11 J Trulli (It) Renault 1:18.360; 12 J Villeneuve (Can) BAR-Honda 1:18.388; 13 E Irvine (GB) Jaguar 1:18.718; 14 O Panis (Fr) BAR-Honda 1:18.846; 15 M Salo (Fin) Toyota 1:18.890; 16 J P Montoya (Col) Williams-BMW 1:18.961; 17 N Heidfeld (Ger) Sauber-Petronas 1:19.051; 18 A McNish (GB) Toyota 1:19.171; 19 A Davidson (GB) Minardi-Asiatech 1:19.490; 20 M Webber (Aus) Minardi-Asiatech 1:19.526.