Rhys Davies

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Rhys Davies
Nationality Flag of Australia svg.png Australian
Born 11th August 1978
Goulburn, NSW, Australia
Formula One
Debut Season 1999
Latest Season 2018
Current Team None
Car Number 31
Former Teams Sauber, Williams, Ferrari, Holden
Races 297 (295 starts)
Championships 1 (2003)
Victories 14
Podiums 50
Points 758
Pole Positions 25
Fastest Laps 11
First Race 1999 Australian Grand Prix
First Victory 2001 Austrian Grand Prix
Last Victory 2011 Brazilian Grand Prix II
Last Race 2018 Brazilian Grand Prix II
Best Finish 1st (2003)
F1RWRS
Debut Season 2012
Latest Season 2017
Current Team Unattached
Car Number N/A
Former Teams Flag of Australia svg.png GRM
Flag of Australia svg.png Holden
Flag of Australia svg.png/Flag of Germany svg.png MRT
Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png Jones
Flag of France svg.png Voeckler
Races 83 (81 starts)
Championships 1 (2016)
Victories 6
Podiums 21
Points 220
Pole Positions 8
Fastest Laps 10
First Race 2012 Bavarian Grand Prix
First Victory 2012 United States Grand Prix
Last Victory 2017 Monaco Grand Prix
Last Race 2017 Chinese Grand Prix
Best Finish 1st (2016)


Rhys Davies (born 11th August 1978 in Goulburn, NSW) is an Australian racing driver. He is currently the only person to have won both the Formula One (in 2003) and AutoReject World Series (in 2016) World Championships.

Early Racing Career

Helmet design

Born in Goulburn, Davies first got involved in motorsports at the fairly late age of 16, when he turned up for a track day at Wakefield Park. ATCC driver John Zimmer spotted Davies there and signed him to drive for his Australian Formula Ford team, ZimSport. Davies was immediately successful, finishing second in the 1994 season. ZimSport moved up to Australian Formula 3, and took Davies with them, where he won the 1995 and 1996 championships. In 1997, he was hired to take part in the International Formula 3000 championship with Draco Engineering, and finished a respectable 10th place. He managed to gain the attention of the Sauber F1 Team, and became their test driver for 1998.

Formula One

1999-2000: Sauber

In 1999, Davies made the step up into Formula One, driving for Red Bull Sauber Petronas alongside former Ferrari tester Luca Badoer. Davies' race debut came in the Australian Grand Prix, where he finished a respectable eighth place. One race later in Brazil, Davies scored his first point in Formula One with a sixth place ahead of Badoer. Davies' next score came in the Austrian Grand Prix, where he and Badoer took a fifth and sixth place respectively for Sauber. This would end up being the Swiss team's only double points finish in 1999, as Davies only scored once more this year - a sixth place finish in Belgium.

2000 saw Badoer depart the team, with 1999 runner-up David Coulthard moving to Sauber from Ferrari. With Coulthard, Davies had a real yardstick to measure himself against - and Davies landed the first blow with an impressive fifth place in the season opener in Australia. Despite the promising result in the first race, Sauber's package for 2000 was particularly competitive, with Davies' fourth place finish in the European Grand Prix his and Sauber's best result of the year.

2001-2010: Williams

Growing frustrated with a lack of progress at Sauber, Davies engineered a move to the BMW WilliamsF1 Team alongside Ralf Schumacher. This proved to be a masterstroke for the Australian, with the Williams FW23 seemingly the car to beat. Davies opened his 2001 account with four straight third place finishes, soon followed by a career first win at the Austrian Grand Prix. Davies took six more podiums in 2001, including a second win at the European Grand Prix as his teammate Schumacher beat out his brother Michael for the title. Davies finished his first season at Williams in third place.

Davies in 2003.

2002 came along and it initially seemed like the Williams was once again going to be a title winner, with Davies picking up wins in Australia and San Marino - however, after the third race Ferrari's dominant F2002 made its competitive bow and dominated the rest of the season. Despite several podiums and 69 points, Davies would have to settle for second place in the Driver's standings behind the dominant Michael Schumacher.

Williams, Ferrari and McLaren would be met by another challenger in 2003, with the emergence of Renault as a serious contender blowing the title race completely open. With this, every point score was especially precious. Rhys' namesake James James Davies of McLaren drew blood first, with the Brit taking the honours in Australia. Rhys Davies waited three races before opening his wins account for 2003, taking the flag in San Marino for a second time. Davies took several more podiums throughout the year and a second win of the season in Brazil. Strong efforts from Rhys Davies, James James Davies and Michael Schumacher saw the title go down the final race in a three way tussle. In the end, it was Davies who'd take the crown, albeit after a controversial Japanese Grand Prix where the Australian was initially disqualified from the race following contact with JJD - thus handing the title to Schumacher - before the DQ was overturned later on at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Davies' title defence was unsuccessful in 2004, thanks to the shortened calendar meaning less opportunity to develop the car, Ferrari's F2004 being the dominant car, and Williams' disqualification from the Canadian Grand Prix for illegal brake ducts. Davies would finish 4th in the championship with 38 points, equal with teammate Ralf Schumacher but the German was placed ahead on countback thanks to taking a win when Davies did not.

2005 came around and Davies would be joined by popular young Briton Jenson Button at Williams. Despite the car initially being promising early on in the season, Davies taking a hat trick at his home grand prix, Williams were left standing still as the season progressed, falling down into the midfield. Davies would finish 10th in the championship with 39 points, 2 less than Button.

BMW would end their successful partnership with Williams, citing a poor 2005 as the reason for leaving them, and went to supply Sauber for leaving them. Williams were then forced to partner up with Cosworth for 2006, putting them on the back foot when the season began. Davies would score a podium in the opening race at Bahrain, but the Williams was generally off the pace and unreliable that year, although for his efforts, Davies finished 13th in the championship with 19 points, more than double that of his teammate.

For 2007, Davies was joined by Brazilian Rubens Barrichello after Button left to join Renault, with a new Honda engine deal after Cosworth left Formula One. The Williams was poor early on, although Davies scored a point at a cold Japanese Grand Prix, with the FW29 becoming a semi-regular points scorer by seasons end, with Davies managing to generally outperform Barrichello, before the Brazilian's departure before his home race and was replaced by Jean-Maxime Bachot, who outqualified the Australian but hit his pitcrew which left him to finish 12th. Davies achieved a best finish of 4th at the Turkish Grand Prix and was 12th in the championship with 13 points.

Williams found some stability in the engine department in 2008, retaining the Honda motors, and Button returned to the team following another falling-out with Flavio Briatore. Davies would be quite easily outperformed by the newly-determined Brit, scoring less than half the points of Button and was outraced by him in two-thirds of the races that they both finished. The Australian was left in 15th in the championship, his lowest finish of his career at that point, with 10 points and a best finish of 5th, again at Turkey.

Davies reunited with his former Sauber teammate when Luca Badoer joined Williams from Ferrari ahead of the 2009 season.

A new two-race format in 2010 was the new challenge for Davies and the Australian was readying himself for yet another tough season with Williams - his contract in it's final year. Davies seemed to do fairly well under the new format and even won twice of the course of the season on his way to 10th.

2011: Sauber return & Ferrari

Davies made the jump back to a newly independent Sauber in 2011 when the Swiss team had brokered a deal for Ferrari engines - effectively turning Sauber into the Scuderia's "B team". This status would be emphasised when Davies was called upon by Ferrari to replace Ferrari's Fernando Alonso on a number of occasions before the move was made permanent midway through the year in order to help Robert Kubica win the title. Once Davies made the jump to Ferrari, he took five wins over the course of the season which was enough to deliver him to fifth in the championship as well securing the Constructor's crown.

2018: Holden

After an extended stint in the rival F1RWRS, Davies made an highly-anticipated return to F1 with the new works Holden Racing Team. With the team also signing four time Formula One champion Daniel Melrose, a fellow Australian, as his teammate, many expected the team to be instantly competitive. However, the car proved to be a great disappointment, as both drivers complained of a general lack of grip, rendering both as midfield also-rans - Davies' best results a fifth in Great Britain and Mexico. Davies finished the season in 16th place which was enough to convince Davies to step away from F1 once more.

F1RWRS Career

For 2012, Davies followed the footsteps of many of his fellow F1 drivers including Sammy Jones, Phoenix McAllister and Melrose into the F1RWRS where he was signed for the Holden Racing Team alongside another former F1 star in Frank Zimmer

Complete Formula One Grand Prix results

Year Entrant 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 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 WDC Points
1999 Red Bull Sauber Petronas Sauber C18 Petronas SPE-03A AUS
8
BRA
6
SMR
9
ESP
Ret
MON
8
CAN
7
FRA
11
GBR
9
AUT
5
GER
9
HUN
8
BEL
6
ITA
8
JPN
8
MAL
10
POR
14†
12th 4
2000 Red Bull Sauber Petronas Sauber C19 Petronas SPE 04A AUS
5
BRA
DNS
SMR
7
FRA
13
ESP
Ret
EUR
4
MON
9
CAN
10
GBR
13
AUT
10
GER
7
HUN
8
BEL
Ret
ITA
7
JPN
Ret
MAL
Ret
USA
9
POR
Ret
14th 5
2001 BMW WilliamsF1 Team Williams FW23 BMW P80 AUS
3
MAL
3
BRA
3
SMR
3
ESP
Ret
AUT
1
MON
2
CAN
2
EUR
1
FRA
3
GBR
11†
GER
Ret
HUN
3
BEL
2
ITA
Ret
USA
Ret
JPN
Ret
3rd 62
2002 BMW WilliamsF1 Team Williams FW24 BMW P82 AUS
1
MAL
Ret
SMR
1
ESP
3
AUT
2
MON
3
CAN
2
EUR
Ret
FRA
Ret
GBR
2
GER
2
HUN
2
BEL
3
ITA
Ret
BRA
4
USA
3
JPN
Ret
2nd 69
2003 BMW WilliamsF1 Team Williams FW25 BMW P83 AUS
3
MAL
Ret
SMR
1
ESP
4
AUT
2
MON
2
CAN
Ret
GBR
2
EUR
2
GER
5
HUN
4
ITA
DNA
BEL
8
BRA
1
USA
2
JPN
3
1st 87
2004 BMW Williams F1 Team Williams FW26 BMW P84 3.0 V10 AUS
Ret
MAL
7
BHR
6
MON
5
CAN
DSQ
USA
2
CHN
4
BRA
2
ARG
2
KOR
C
JPN
Ret
4th 38
2005 BMW Williams F1 Team Williams FW27 BMW P84/5 3.0 V10 AUS
1
MAL
Ret
BHR
3
SMR
Ret
ESP
Ret
MON
3
EUR
7
CAN
Ret
USA
DNS
FRA
10
GBR
Ret
GER
4
HUN
Ret
TUR
9
ITA
6
BEL
8
BRA
6
URU
Ret
JPN
Ret
CHN
6
10th 39
2006 WilliamsF1 Team Williams FW28 Cosworth CA2006 2.4 V8 BHR
3
MAL
7
AUS
5
BEL
9
EUR
9
SMR
11
MON
11
ESP
5
GBR
8
CAN
9
USA
12
FRA
Ret
GER
Ret
HUN
Ret
TUR
13
ITA
Ret
BRA
7
URU
Ret
JPN
13
CHN
10
13th 19
2007 AT&T Williams Williams FW29 Honda RA807E 2.4 V8 BHR
9
MAL
Ret
AUS
Ret
JPN
8
SMR
13
GER
10
ESP
Ret
MON
12
CAN
Ret
USA
21†
GBR
Ret
EUR
13
FRA
6
HUN
Ret
TUR
4
ITA
17
BEL
Ret
CHN
8
URU
13
BRA
6
12th 13
2008 AT&T Williams Williams FW30 Honda RA808E 2.4 V8 BHR
10
MAL
11
AUS
14
JPN
Ret
TUR
5
EUR
13
MON
17†
CAN
14
USA
6
FRA
9
GBR
11
GER
13
HUN
10
ESP
19
BEL
16
ITA
8
SIN
7
CHN
16
URU
14
BRA
15
15th 10
2010 AT&T Williams Williams FW32 Honda RA005E BHR
1
17
BHR
2
Ret
USA
1
Ret
USA
2
Ret
JPN
1

4
JPN
2
15
AUS
1
13
AUS
2
6
TUR
1
8
TUR
2
6
EUR
1
10
EUR
2
9
MON
1
11
MON
2
9
GBR
1
12
GBR
2
7
IRE
1
9
IRE
2
10
GER
1
Ret
GER
2
10
ESP
1
1
ESP
2
21
ITA
1
EX
ITA
2
10
HUN
1
Ret
HUN
2
Ret
SIN
1
3
SIN
2
10
KOR
1
13
KOR
2
1
BRA
1
12
BRA
2
10
URU
1
Ret
URU
2
6
ABU
1
Ret
ABU
2
20
10th 124
2011 Sauber F1 Team Sauber C30 Ferrari 056 BHR
1
4
BHR
2
Ret
USA
1
7†
USA
2
Ret
JPN
1
Ret
JPN
2
Ret
KOR
1
2
KOR
2
Ret
TUR
1
Ret
TUR
2
11
ESP
1
EX
ESP
2
EX
MON
1
Ret
MON
2
3
GBR
1
Ret
GBR
2
Ret
IRE
1
12
IRE
2
Ret
EUR
1
6
5th 253
Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro Ferrari F150 Ferrari 056 EUR
2

5
GER
1

1
GER
2

Ret
HUN
1

1
HUN
2

1
ITA
1

1
ITA
2
Ret
URU
1
INJ
URU
2
INJ
BRA
1

Ret
BRA
2
1
SIN
1
2
SIN
2
4
IND
1
Ret
IND
2
2
ABU
1

16
ABU
2

4
2018 Kmart Holden Racing Team Holden HRT-008 Holden LSF1-18 USA I
10
USA II
Ret
JPN I
Ret
JPN II
9
BAH I
22†
BAH II
13
TUR I
Ret
TUR II
11
CYP I
9
CYP II
7
MED I
19
MED II
14
GER I
22
GER II
12
FIN I
Ret
FIN II
15
RUS I
6
RUS II
15
SIN I
15
SIN II
8
AUS I
Ret
AUS II
Ret
GBR I
8
GBR II
5
FRA I
19
FRA II
8
NED I
14
NED II
12
HUN I
17
HUN II
Ret
ABU I
13
ABU II
13
CHN I
16
CHN II
15
MEX I
5
MEX II
14
BRA I
11
BRA II
14
15th 35

F1RWRS/ARWS Results

Year Team Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 DC Pts
2012 NAB-Holden Racing Team Holden HRT-002 Holden HSV LS3B BAV
DNPQ
SAX
4
GER
10
LUX
5
BEL
4
NED
2
GBR
Ret
KEN
EX
ENG
EX
TAS
7
SUR
5
NSW
6
AUS
Ret
CHN
9
USA
1
500
23
5th 51
2013 Holden F1RWRS Racing Team Holden HRT-003 Holden HSV L12-1 TAS
4
AUS
2
MEX
5
USA
4
MON
4
FRA
2
GBR
Ret
GER
4
NED
Ret
BEL
6
POR
10
MED
Ret
BRA
7
4th 31
Garry Rogers Motorsport ZimSport GRM1 Holden HSV L12-1 MAC
3
CHN
16
JPN
14
2014 Holden F1RWRS Racing Team Holden HRT-004 Holden HSV L12-2 TAS
15†
AUS
Ret
BRA
4
MEX
12
USA
Ret
MON
Ret
FRA
6
GBR
Ret
GER
15
BEL
Ret
ITA
13
MED
Ret
SEA
Ret
MAC
Ret
18th 4
Virgin Melrose Racing Team MRT M5 BMW P89 CHN
Ret
JPN
DNQ
2015 Virgin Melrose Racing Team MRT M6 BMW P90 TAS
1
AUS
1
MED
10†
MON
4
MEX
5†
USA
Ret
CAN
Ret
GBR
17†
GER
13
BEL
Ret
AUT
2
ITA
3
2nd 48
Castrol Jones Racing Jones 105 Ford Zetec XR8A SEA
Ret
CHN
1
JPN
5
BRA
6
2016 Castrol Jones Ford Team Jones 107 Ford Zetec XR8B AUS
5
NSW
4
GBR
3
ITA
2
AUT
2
CAN
Ret
USS
4
USN
2
GER
2
SEA
3
MON
2
BEL
1
MEX
3
ARG
3
CHN
5
JPN
Ret
1st 75
2017 DScity Voeckler Renault Voeckler VGPOne Renault RSXXI-17 AUS NSW GBR ITA AUT CAN USS USN GER NED BEL MON
1
MOR
Ret
ARG
Ret
JPN
Ret
CHN
6†
12th 11
2019 Winfield Venturi Formula V-512 Yamaha OX64A AUS
NSW
KIN
ITA
MAR
CAN
500
GBR
AUT
GER
SCA
BEL
Ret
MON
RSA
BRA
ARG
JPN
CHN
36th 0
  • † Driver did not finish the Grand Prix, but was classified as they completed over 90% of the race distance.

Career Summary

Year Series Team Position
1994 Australian Formula Ford ZimSport 2nd
1995 Australian Formula 3 ZimSport 1st
1996 Australian Formula 3 ZimSport 1st
1997 International Formula 3000 Draco Engineering 10th
1998 International Formula 3000 Super Nova Racing 3rd
1999 Formula One Benetton Formula 5th
WilliamsF1
2000 Formula One BMW Williams 1st
Shell Championship Series McDougall Motorsport 30th
2001 Formula One McLaren Mercedes 2nd
V8 Supercar Championship Series Perkins Engineering 63rd
2002 Formula One Renault F1 6th
2003 Formula One Renault F1 8th
2004 Formula One Toyota F1 4th
2005 Formula One Toyota F1 8th
2006 Formula One Toyota F1 11th
2007 Formula One Toyota F1 10th
2008 V8 Supercars Championship Series Holden Racing Team 3rd
2009 V8 Supercars Championship Series Holden Racing Team 3rd
2010 Formula One WilliamsF1 10th
V8 Supercars Championship Series Walkinshaw Racing 39th
2011 Formula One Sauber F1 5th
Scuderia Ferrari
2012 F1RWRS Holden Racing Team 5th
2013 F1RWRS Holden Racing Team 4th
Garry Rogers Motorsport
2014 F1RWRS Holden Racing Team 18th
Melrose Racing Team
2015 F1RWRS Melrose Racing Team 2nd
Castrol Jones Racing
2016 F1RWRS Castrol Jones Ford Team 1st
Sporting Accolades
Preceded by:
Mark Dagnall
2013-2015
F1RWRS Champion
2016
Succeeded by:
Thomas De Bock
2017