Davidson: Plenty more where that came from.

Anthony Davidson has vowed the promise shown in Melbourne was only the tip of the iceberg for Super Aguri, as the sophomore outfit bids to become a serious grand prix contender in 2007.

The 27-year-old began his first full season in the top flight at last weekend's Australian Grand Prix, following an incredible five years on the sidelines as a test-driver with only occasional race appearances for Minardi and BAR along the way. What's more, his 16th place in the season-opener, although far below post-qualifying expectations, marked the first time the Hemel Hempstead ace had actually finished a grand prix, and it has left him fired-up for the remainder of the campaign.

"It's a great feeling," Davidson told Bridgestone about having finally received his big break in the uppermost echelon. "The races I've done before have never really felt right to me. I've always been thrown in at the deep end mid-season, and that's tough. Trying to beat someone at their own game is almost impossible, and I kind of underestimated in the past just how hard Formula 1 can be.

"Now I'm a lot more experienced and I understand how the race weekends are structured after doing all the Friday running, so it should be a lot easier. I'm really looking forward to the rest of the year. We had a nice build-up through the winter and really got on top of the car and the new tyres. I feel really ready now."

It is not only the Brit who is more experienced, with the entire Super Aguri team having taken a quantum leap forward over the close season, to such an extent that not only did both cars escape the first session cut in qualifying in Melbourne for the first time in the outfit's history, they then went on to line up an unprecedented tenth and 11th on the starting grid. Davidson argues the signs were there right from the final race of 2006.

"Things are definitely a lot more relaxed compared to this time last year," he underlined. "Everyone is much more under control. The team is now really starting to gel together, and I think Brazil last year proved they've really become one of the better teams out there in terms of getting the job done throughout the weekend and working well as a team together. They had some of the fastest pit-stops there as well and Taku (Sato) finished tenth, which was a really good achievement. I'm sure we are going to move even further forward this year, and hopefully I will be there to help them with every step of the car's improvement."

The former British F3 runner-up - to current team-mate Sato - is also pleased with the progress the squad has made with Bridgestone's 2007 Potenza tyres over the winter months, after many drivers initially struggled to adequately adapt to the new rubber and its two different compounds that must be used in races throughout the year.

"We obviously worked a lot on the cars throughout the winter break," he explained. "The new tyres are quite a step back in grip levels from a driver's point-of-view, and it's always a more difficult challenge driving a car that has come down in grip level from one that has increased. At the final pre-season test in Bahrain we found at some points up to eight tenths of a second difference between the two compounds, but most of the time it's been relatively close. It should make for interesting racing."

Looking ahead to the forthcoming events in Malaysia - scene of one of his three previous Formula 1 outings in 2005 - and Bahrain, Davidson said a pre-race test at the former and pre-season at the latter would be a major benefit at two of the more demanding circuits on the calendar. What's more, he was adamant that Super Aguri's Melbourne pace would not turn out to be merely a flash in the pan.

"You can pretty much guarantee every year that Malaysia is going to be really hot and humid," he said. "It's probably one of the most physical races out there. I'm massively looking forward to going back to Bahrain again too. We like a challenge, and here at Super Aguri we all feel ready for it. I'm sure it's going to be a good one for us."

To hear the interview in full - part of a podcast assembled by the sport's leading tyre manufacturer entitled Racing all over the World and featuring interviews with some of the sport's key figures - simply Click Here and follow the instructions at the top right of the page.