Rhys Davies

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
2009	AT&T Williams	Williams FW31	Honda RA809E 2.4 V8	BHR 3	AUS Ret	MAL‡ 7	USA Ret	JPN 6	ESP 10	TUR 2	EUR 1	MON 3	GBR Ret	IRE Ret	GER 2	BEL 5	ITA 4	HUN 6	SIN 6	CHN 8	BRA 5	URU 3	ABU 4																			3rd	74
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: Michael Schumacher	Formula One World Champion 2003	Succeeded by: James James Davies
Preceded by: Mark Dagnall 2013-2015	F1RWRS Champion 2016	Succeeded by: Thomas De Bock 2017