James James Davies

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This page is about the Formula One driver James James Davies. For the unrelated driver who competed in ARWS, please visit James Davies.

This page is currently under construction.
James James Davies
Nationality Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png British
Born 14th September 1975
Monmouth, Wales
Life GP Series
Debut Season 1991
Latest Season 1993
Current Team Not active
Car Number Not active
Former Teams Team James Davies, Foster's Good Call Racing
Races 36
Championships 2 (1992,1993)
Victories 7
Podiums 9
Points 123.5
Pole Positions 23
Fastest Laps 20
First Race 1991 Life Grand Prix of Spain
First Victory 1991 Life Grand Prix of the Czech Republic
Last Victory 1993 Life Grand Prix of Japan
Last Race 1993 Life Grand Prix of Macau
Best Finish 1st (1992,1993)
F1RGP2C
Debut Season 1994
Latest Season 1997
Current Team West McLaren Mercedes
Car Number 1
Former Teams Sauber
Races 81
Championships 1 (1998)
Victories 14
Podiums 24
Points 203
Pole Positions 17
Fastest Laps 15
First Race 1994 Brazilian Grand Prix
First Victory 1997 Argentinian Grand Prix
Last Victory 1999 Hungarian Grand Prix
Last Race 1999 Hungarian Grand Prix
Best Finish 1st (1998)


James James Davies (born 14th September, 1975 in Monmouth, Wales), more commonly known as just JJD, is a British racing driver best known for his appearances in Formula One and his unique personality. One of the most polarising figures in Formula One and motorsports history, Davies is well known for his fiery temper and frequent outbursts. He is also well known for changing his name to incorporate a middle name ahead of the 2000 season. Famously, when asked by Murray Walker why he changed his middle name to James via deed poll, James responded "I figured that James sounded so good I might as well have people say it twice".

James James Davies has won the Formula One driver's championship twice, in 2004 and 2014.

He is of no relation to the ARWS driver James Davies or his cousin Jordan but he is the son of former sports car driver John Davies.


Early Career

Born in Monmouth, Davies got his first taste of racing at the age of 6, at a friend's birthday party. Although he quickly displayed an incredible talent, winning the race with remarkable ease, his father was initially against James beginning a racing career due to suffering some serious crashes during his own career, most notably his career-ending crash. However, he eventually relented when James saved up his pocket money and went to a karting track without his parents permission when he was 12. Although he didn't have enough for the bus home and had to be picked up by his parents, he did set the lap record on the children's course - which incidentally still stands today. Although he was grounded for 6 months after that, James was bought a kart for his 13th birthday. Within 2 years he had promptly demolished anything even remotely resembling competition in the domestic kart scene, and was strongly being considered being moved straight to Formula 3.

Davies first came to international prominence when he illegally took part in the 1989 Birmingham SuperPrix at the age of fourteen under the pseudonym of "David James". Davies was given a two year ban by the Motor Sports Association, after it was discovered he was racing under a forged licence. Despite the punishment from the MSA, Formula 3000 organisers declined to put similar sanctions on Davies, stating that the punishment from the MSA was enough, and he had shown himself capable of handling a high-horsepower, high-grip racing car despite his tender age.

LifeGP Career

However, this was still not enough to remove all his father's doubts, and so James made a bet with him: he would enter for one race in the newly formed Life Grand Prix Series, and should he not be one of the leading drivers, he would end his career immediately. As LifeGP lacked age restrictions, this made Davies at 15 the youngest driver in the series by far.

Any doubts over Davies' career were quickly erased in the first race, as he dominated the race, only to lose out with a late-race car failure. His father relented, and James prepared to run the full schedule, completing his school work in between each race. However, the story of his first international race would be largely the story of Davies' season, as he would only finish twice all season before the team's money and his patience ran out after the 13th race. He then switched over to British F3, where the higher build quality ensured he was able to make good on his speed and win most of the time.

He then continued in British F3 for 1992, and was leading easily when he got a call from Good Call Racing, inviting him to return to Life GP in place of the very disappointing Evelyn Gomes with a substantial paycheck. Not keen to let unfinished business stay that way, Davies accepted the offer, and promptly sat on the pole for the first 4 races of his comeback, finally winning his second race in the series when the car actually held together for the duration at Mid-Ohio, with practically no opposition. He continued his form at the next two races, winning at Phoenix and Mine with ease, to make him a serious title contender by the time the season finale came along.

As in the 3 previous races, Davies qualified on pole, and proceeded to dominate in the rain, even as conditions grew more and more treacherous. This continued until Davies, unsighted, crashed into the back of his teammate, Jeremy-Etienne Voeckler. Voeckler had yet to pit for tyres, and so was leading at the time - as the red flag was thrown, it seemed that Davies' title challenge had crumbled into dust, as with only half-points being given out, he did not have enough to overhaul Dave Wilson. That was until the results were pushed back one lap in a controversial decision, allowing Davies the extra 2 points he needed to take the title by half a point.

Davies' title defence began in the worst possible way, as he was once again leading dominantly in the season opening Argentine round, only to crash and miss the next 4 races due to injury. While James recovered, his father pleaded with him to stop racing before he permanently injured himself. Naturally, James took no notice and completed the season. It bore more resemblance to his 1991 campaign, with far more mechanical problems and crashes, as Davies spent most of the season behind Vic Sunset, however, a strong 2nd place at the penultimate round of the season secured Davies' place as the only 2-time champion in LGPS history.

Formula One

1998-1999: McLaren

Ahead of the 1998 season, the 23 year-old Davies was named as the second driver at the West McLaren Mercedes team alongside Finnish veteran Mika Häkkinen. It would only take four races for the young Brit to take his first win at McLaren, winning from the front row after his teammate retired in the early stages of the race. This breakthrough galvanised Davies and his manager Don Rennis, who would both make serious claims that Davies would win the 1998 title.

Davies stirred up more controversy after the French Grand Prix, where after finishing second in a solid McLaren one-two performance, Davies would allude to a discrepancy in power between his car and the one driven by Häkkinen. This caused a major argument with him and team principal Ron Dennis which nearly saw the Brit lose his place in the team before his position was secured by minority owner Mansour Ojjeh. McLaren were forced to issue a statement in the aftermath of this incident, which read: "McLaren is fully committed to providing both of our drivers equal equipment and equal treatment for the entirety of their tenures within the team."

Davies would win a further two races after San Marino; taking the flag in Canada and in his home race at the British Grand Prix. Davies would continue to alienate his team and others along the paddock with his frequent outbursts and eventually finished the season in a very distant third position behind Häkkinen and Ferrari's David Coulthard. Davies finished the season equal on points with Ferrari's Michael Schumacher but would secure third by virtue of more second place finishes.

Despite his highly charged 1998 season, Davies remained with McLaren in 1999. However, McLaren would not enjoy the same dominance that they experienced the year before; with a majorly improved Ferrari being joined by an unexpectedly competitive Jordan. After scoring just two wins (and finishing the season on a five race pointless streak), Davies would leave McLaren at the end of the 1999 season after his contract was not renewed - a choice that was believed to be at the request of Ron Dennis.

2000-2001: Jordan

After falling out with McLaren management, Davies and fellow Briton Jack Christopherson would swap seats ahead of the 2000 season - with Davies headed to the "rock and roll" team of Benson & Hedges Jordan. Despite a relatively slow start to the season, Davies would begin to bed in to the more relaxed nature of the Jordan team and was a regular winner in the latter stages of the year. Davies would win four races in the millennium year on his way to fourth place in the championship.

The following season, Davies would remain for a second year at Jordan - being joined by Jarno Trulli. Unlike the previous two years, Jordan was now returning to its more familiar spot in the mid-field - which began to frustrate the Brit. Davies would suffer a number of setbacks during this season, firstly suffering a minor injury ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix - meaning Jordan would give a debut to tester Kimi Räikkönen. Davies would return at the next race before suffering yet another injury at the beginning of the Belgian Grand Prix following a collision with Jaguar's Eddie Irvine. This injury saw Davies bow out of the remainder of the year, meaning Räikkönen would see out the season.

2002-2003: McLaren return

With Jordan opting for Räikkönen as the new team leader, Davies would make a shock return to McLaren ahead of the 2002 season - replacing Hakkinen whom decided to take a short sabbatical from F1. A slightly more mellowed Davies would repay McLaren's confidence in him, taking a memorable win despite a punctured tyre and a recalcitrant car at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Davies remained with the Woking outfit in 2003 and took an early advantage with a pole and win at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix. Davies took four race wins, leading all drivers, in 2003 in a season where he was a contender for the title up until the final race. Although he led the points for the majority of the season, reliability and poor performance from his McLaren team left Davies an outsider for the title by the final race, compared to Rhys Davies and Michael Schumacher. Nonetheless, JJD worked himself into a good position during the final race at Suzuka before he was forced off the track by his rival Rhys Davies. Rhys Davies would go on to win the title by two points from Schumacher, but the JJD incident left a cloud over proceedings. In a post-race media meltdown, JJD swore that he would never let Davies beat him again.

2004: Ferrari

Davies' desire to finally win the World Championship led him to leave McLaren for a second time, but characteristically, the Welshman went on to shock the paddock once again by joining Scuderia Ferrari for the 2004. Although it was expected that Davies would have to play second fiddle to established number one Schumacher, much of the British press speculated that the pairing would cause fireworks in an already volatile Formula One climate. Davies, for his part, did nothing to assuage the speculation, declaring himself, "Schumacher's only real teammate", and announcing himself as the title favourite pre-season. He would further embroil himself in controversy at the pre-season launch, after he and Ferrari junior driver Daniel Melrose were involved in a fracas which saw drinks being thrown and at least one of the men being removed from the venue.

Personal Life

Davies' outlandish persona has made him an incredibly popular personality - with many racing drivers citing him as one of their inspirations in getting into Motorsport - most notably Kay Lon.

In 2017, James James Davies was featured as a guest for the 'Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car' segment on long-running British motoring show, Top Gear. He set the fastest lap of the F1 and F1RWRS drivers to have been guests on the show.

Full Career Results

Life GP Results

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 DC Pts
1991 Team James Davies ESP
Ret
AND
Ret
FRA
Ret
ITA
Ret
AUT
2
CZE
1
GER
Ret
SWE
Ret
BEL
Ret
SUI
Ret
LUX
Ret
EUR
Ret
GBR
Ret
ENG
POR
USE
USW
JPN
7th 25
1992 Foster's Good Call Racing ARG
BRA
ESP
FRA
ITA
AUT
CZE
FIN
GER
SUI
BEL
NED
ENG
Ret
GBR
Ret
CAN
Ret
USE
1
USW
1
JPN
1
AUS
1*
1st 46.5
1993 Foster's Good Call Racing ARG
Ret
BRA
INJ
VEN
INJ
USA
INJ
CAN
INJ
IRE
6†
GBR
Ret
NED
Ret
GER
Ret
POL
1
AUT
4
ITA
Ret
FRA
Ret
NAM
Ret
JAP
1
MAL
Ret
IND
Ret
NZL
Ret
AUS
2
MAC
Ret
1st 52

Formula 1 Results

Year Team Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 WDC Pts
1998 West McLaren Mercedes McLaren MP4/13 Mercedes FO110G AUS
2
BRA
3
ARG
Ret
SMR
1
ESP
Ret
MON
Ret
CAN
1
FRA
2
GBR
1
AUT
4
GER
Ret
HUN
Ret
BEL
Ret
ITA
2
JPN
3
POR
Ret
3rd 59
1999 West McLaren Mercedes McLaren MP4/14 Mercedes FO110H AUS
3
BRA
4
SMR
Ret
ESP
1
MON
DNS
CAN
3
FRA
Ret
GBR
2
AUT
2
GER
1
HUN
4
BEL
Ret
ITA
11
JPN
Ret
USA
15†
POR
Ret
6th 46
2000 Benson & Hedges Jordan Jordan EJ10
EJ10B
Mugen-Honda MF-301 HD AUS
7
BRA
Ret
SMR
4
FRA
Ret
ESP
3
EUR
Ret
MON
Ret
CAN
2
GBR
4
AUT
1
GER
Ret
HUN
1
BEL
Ret
ITA
Ret
JPN
1
MAL
1
USA
5
POR
2
4th 64
2001 Benson & Hedges Jordan Honda Jordan EJ11 Honda RA001E AUS
Ret
MAL
8
BRA
8
SMR
2
ESP
Ret
AUT
4
MON
Ret
CAN
INJ
EUR
Ret
FRA
Ret
GBR
2
GER
5†
HUN
Ret
BEL
DNS
ITA
INJ
USA
INJ
JPN
INJ
9th 17
2002 West McLaren Mercedes McLaren MP4-17 Mercedes FO110M AUS
4
MAL
Ret
SMR
Ret
ESP
4
AUT
Ret
MON
Ret
CAN
14
EUR
3
FRA
Ret
GBR
Ret
GER
3
HUN
1
BEL
2
ITA
2
BRA
Ret
USA
Ret
JPN
4
5th 39
2003 West McLaren Mercedes McLaren MP4-17D Mercedes FO110M/Mercedes FO110P AUS
1
MAL
5
SMR
4
ESP
5
AUT
1
MON
Ret
CAN
3
GBR
1
EUR
1
GER
3
HUN
14†
ITA
DNA
BEL
4
BRA
5
USA
Ret
JPN
Ret
3rd 74
2004 Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro Ferrari F2004 Ferrari 053 3.0 V10 AUS
1
MAL
2
BHR
2
MON
3
CAN
1
USA
Ret
CHN
1
BRA
1
ARG
4
KOR
C
JPN
6
1st 70
2010 Petronas Mercedes Team Europe MGP 001 Mercedes FO 108X BAH
I
BAH
II
USA1 USA2 JPN1 JPN2 AUS1 AUS2 TUR1 TUR2 EUR1 EUR2 MON1 MON2 GBR1 GBR2 IRE1 IRE2 GER1 GER2 ESP1 ESP2 ITA1 ITA2 HUN1 HUN2 SIN1 SIN2 KOR1 KOR2 BRA1 BRA2 URU1 URU2 ABU1
3
ABU2
18
23rd 15
2011 Petronas Mercedes Team Europe MGP W02 Mercedes FO 108Y BAH
I
3
BAH
II
11
USA1
Ret
USA2
5
JPN1
Ret
JPN2
INJ
KOR1
14
KOR2
6
TUR1
Ret
TUR2
1
ESP1
11
ESP2
Ret
MON1
5
MON2
7
GBR1
4
GBR2
7
IRE1
4
IRE2
2
EUR1
5
EUR2
6
GER1
12
GER2
Ret
HUN1
6
HUN2
8
ITA1
15
ITA2
15
URU1
EX
URU2
EX
BRA1
EX
BRA2
8
SIN1 SIN2 IND1 IND2 ABU1 ABU2 13th 146
2012 Lola Cars F1 T12/30 Renault RS27-2012 BAH
I

2
BAH
II
13
MAL1
Ret
MAL2
Ret
JPN1
4
JPN2
14
KOR1
20
KOR2
7
TUR1
5
TUR2
Ret
EUR1
EX
EUR2
EX
MON1
7
MON2
8
GBR1
8
GBR2
Ret
CAN1
8
CAN2
7
USA1
11
USA2
2
GER1
Ret
GER2
5
ESP1
8
ESP2
16
ITA1
5
ITA2
19
ABU1
18
ABU2
5
IND1
6
IND2
6
URU1
9
URU2
4
BRA1
Ret
BRA2
3
SIN1
4
SIN2
1
10th 198
2013 Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro F1310 Ferrari Type 057 BAH
I

1
BAH
II

3
MAL1
2
MAL2
1
JPN1
1
JPN2
16
TUR1
Ret
TUR2
1
AUT1
16
AUT2
5
IRE1
1
IRE2
1
MON1
1
MON2
Ret
ESP1
4
ESP2
1
USA1
1
USA2
7
CAN1
Ret
CAN2
1
GBR1
1
GBR2
9
ITA1
4
ITA2
Ret
POR1
Ret
POR2
6
GER1
9
GER2
3
KOR1
9
KOR2
9
IND1
11
IND2
8
ABU1
15
ABU2
1
SIN1
7
SIN2
Ret
1st 417 (422)
2014 DHL Brabham Racing Organisation BT104 Mercedes PU106A BAH
I
4
BAH
II

2
MAL1
4
MAL2
1
BRA1
Ret
BRA2
Ret
MEX1
1
MEX2
Ret
USA1
2
USA2
2
CAN1
Ret
CAN2
11
GBR1
2
GBR2
16
ESP1
3
ESP2
7
AUT1
1
AUT2
Ret
TUR1
4
TUR2
1
GER1
2
GER2
3
POR1
16†
POR2
Ret
ITA1
14
ITA2
Ret
ABU1
3
ABU2
1
IND1
Ret
IND2
7
CHI1
3
CHI2
1
KOR1
7
KOR2
6
JPN1
2
JPN2
Ret
SIN1
5
SIN2
Ret
1st 414
2015 DHL Brabham Racing Organisation Brabham BT105 Mercedes PU104A BAH I
2
BAH II
7
MAL I
Ret
MAL II
C
BRA I
Ret
BRA II
14
MEX I
12
MEX II
8
USA I
Ret
USA II
8
CAN I
Ret
CAN II
13
GBR I
Ret
GBR II
Ret
GER I
11
GER II
Ret
ESP I
Ret
ESP II
5
RUS I
Ret
RUS II
Ret
AUT I
17
AUT II
Ret
ITA I
5
ITA II
4
CPR I
Ret
CPR II
10
ABU I
Ret
ABU II
10
IND I
8
IND II
17
JPN I
6
JPN II
10
KOR I
5
KOR II
12
SIN I
8
SIN II
Ret
CHN I
Ret
CHN II
11
12th 91

F1RICS Results

Year Team Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 DC Points
2016 bild-english.de Hasselhoff Motorsport Panoz DP10 Honda V6T SAO SLU MIA
23
GAT LBH
3
AUS POR INDY
6
MIL DON EUR
5
WGI
6
NHA
13
MIC
5
TOR
3
ROA
23
KEN
22
POC
30
11th 64
Avis Michael Bright Racing Reynard 16i Chevrolet V6T MON LAG SUR SUZ TEX FON