The Briton and his BAR team provided the enthusiastic crowd with plenty of thrills and spills on the opening day of the Chinese Grand Prix.

Davidson was fastest in the morning run and nearly missed out on setting a time in the afternoon after spinning his 006 into the gravel.

The trackside marshals came to his aide and he limped back to the BAR garage for repairs.

Takuma Sato’s Honda engine soon expired and the afternoon looked like it would be a depressing one for the Brackley based squad.

Jenson Button slowly boosted the team’s confidence with a series of strong runs that saw him dominate the timesheets for the majority of the hour.

But – somewhat unfairly – it was Davidson who made the headlines with a stunning last-minute run.

The 25 year-old recorded a time of 1:33.289 on his final lap to crush Button (1:34.174) and the field by almost a full second.

McLaren’s Kimi Raikkonen ended the BAR-dominated day third fastest with a 1:34.289.

Warmer temperatures in the afternoon saw times quickly drop and a furious battle between the sport’s top drivers emerge.

Ferrari looked more competitive after a difficult morning with Rubens Barrichello’s time of 1:34.448 good enough for fifth position.

Sauber – who are powered by Ferrari engines – replaced Michael Schumacher in the Scuderia’s charge with Giancarlo Fisichella (1:34.680) impressive in sixth position.

Schumacher (eighth / 1:34.776) – who had electrical problems in session one – lapped largely unnoticed as he concentrated on long runs and never scared the men at the top.

Toyota was another of the sport’s mid-grid teams who were highly competitive on the opening day in Shanghai.

Ricardo Zonta, Olivier Panis and Ryan Brisoce made frequent visits to the timesheet’s heights but slipped late in the session to finish ninth, 10th and 11th respectively.