2011 end of term report – Kamui Kobayashi

Since his F1 debut in 2009, Kamui Kobayashi is one of the most popular characters in the paddock. The Japanese driver impressed in particular with his bold overtaking moves but also showed some good speed and racing skills.

Season review

Kobayashi’s second season with Sauber started with 9th place on the Melbourne grid and 8th on the finish line. However, he lost his points soon afterwards as the technical stewards found his Sauber’s rear wing to be infringing the rules.
Kobayashi went on to score points in the next seven Grand Prix. In Turkey and Spain, the Japanese driver impressed with strong drives from the back of the field. At Istanbul, he started 24th and finished 10th. At Barcelona, he was dead last after the opening lap but climbed back through the field to take the chequered flag in 10th position. In these two races, he made no less than 23 overtaking moves!

At Monaco, Kamui finished in 5th place – which is his best-ever result in F1. Those ten points proved extremely valuable at the end of the season. In Canada, the Sauber driver had a pretty frustrating race. He held on to 2nd place for 31 laps, on the wet, but lost places on the drying track. He crossed the line in 7th position.

His scoring point finishes run came to an end at Valencia. He retired from the British Grand Prix. He came empty handed from seven of the eight following races as the Sauber team suffered from its decision to give up on the blown diffuser. In spite of it, Kobayashi qualified in a brilliant 7th position in Japan. However he couldn’t capitalize on it in the race as his car went into anti-stall mode at the start. He lost several places and finished in 13th position.

Kobayashi scored more points at Abu Dhabi and Interlagos, thus securing Sauber 7th in the constructors’ championship.

Conclusion

Reknowned for his bold overtaking moves, Kamui Kobayashi did a solid job for Sauber in 2011. Strong point finishes in the first part of the season and determined drives in the second part of the championship helped the Swiss team finish the year ahead of Toro Rosso.

The Japanese totaled 30 points this season and classified 12th in the drivers’ standings. He will stay on with Sauber next year.

Highs
—  Scored points in 7 of the 11 first races
—  Aggressive
—  Fifth place at Monaco

Lows
— Can still improve in qualifying
— Less flamboyant in the second part of the season
— Retired in the opening lap of the Indian Grand Prix

Nextgen-Auto.com marks:
— Olivier Ferret : 12/20
— D.Thys : 13/20
— Sandrine Bouchard : 14/20
— Jean-Michel Setbon : 14/20
— Average mark on the forum Nextgen-Auto.com : 13/20
—  Total : 66/100