Points for Kobayashi (Sauber race review)

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Kamui Kobayashi scored points for the fourth time in five races despite an error in qualifying.

Pedro de la RosaKamui Kobayashi
Qualifying position2417
Qualifying time comparison (Q1)2’05.294 (+3.01)2’02.284
Race position118
Average race lap2’02.279 (+0.44)2’01.840
Laps44/4444/44
Pit stops42

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Pedro de la Rosa

De la Rosa went off in the late stages of Q1 at Curve Paul Frere, condemning him to start from near the back of the grid.

As he was already on his eighth engine and would inevitably need to use a new one before the end of the season, the team decided to put a new engine in the car and take the penalty when it didn’t hurt them too much. That left him starting from last place.

De la Rosa was one of several drivers to lose time making an early switch to intermediates at the start of the race, followed by the necessary change back to slicks. Nonetheless he rose to tenth by the end of the race before making a similar mistake to the one he did in qualifying at the same corner:

After I had to start last I should not complain about finishing 12th, but two laps before the end I was tenth and just in the points.

I was on full wet tyres, the rain was not heavy enough and there was not enough water on the track to stop destroying those tyres. They went off quite quickly and when I tried to catch Vitaly Petrov I made a mistake. I went into the gravel and lost two places.
Pedro de la Rosa

He was promoted to 11th afterwards by Jaime Alguersuari’s penalty.

Compare Pedro de la Rosa’s form against his team mate in 2010

Kamui Kobayashi

Went off in Q1, like his team mate. After starting 17th he was 12th by lap two before pitting for hard tyres – although his team weren’t quite ready for him when he came in.

He climbed up to seventh before being passed by Nico Rosberg at the final restart.

His latest haul of points has lifted him ahead of Petrov in the championship, making him the leading rookie.

Compare Kamui Kobayashi’s form against his team mate in 2010

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    Author information

    Keith Collantine
    Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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    21 comments on “Points for Kobayashi (Sauber race review)”

    1. Charles Carroll
      30th August 2010, 13:13

      I love this kid’s courage! He has been one of my favorites to watch this year.

    2. “His latest haul of points has lifted him ahead of Petrov in the championship, making him the leading rookie.” But he isn’t really a rookie, because he drove two races last year. But ok, 2 races aren’t much at all.

      1. It’s still his rookie season though, like 2008 was Vettel’s rookie season, despite him competing in half of the 2007 season.

    3. Kamui didn’t change to intermediate tyres on lap 2. He stopped twice during the race : once in lap 2 to change to hard tyres and a second time toward the end of the race to change to intermediate.
      If he had put intermediates on on lap he would have had to stop a second time to switch back to slick tyres.

      1. So he did – sorry I had that wrong in my notes from the races. Got a bit mixed up with all the different changes of tyre! Fixed it, thanks.

        1. No worries, that was very easy to be completely lost with all the tyre changes in that hectic race !!!! :-)
          Anyway, thanks for your blog, it’s always very interesting !

    4. Still my favourite rookie, we need this sort of driver in F1 in my opinion. Seems humble and very grounded but can entertain on the track. At a guess, with experience he will work his way up and we will see him in the mix outperforming his team mate and extracting more out of the car than others can. He may even be a real star of the future.

    5. Are some of you guys sure we need kobayashi in f1?

      This guys is always trying overtaking manouvers and one day he might cause an avoidable accident lol

      1. KOB can pass people without taking them and himself out. VET gets this wrong too often. It’s not BTCC.

      2. I think every driver always tries to overtake. Kobayashi isn’t really prone to crashing. His crash in Canada, is the only unprovoked accident I can recall he’s been in.

        Anyway, I think Formula One needs a Japanese driver, as it’s already lost Super Aguri, Honda and Toyota, and it’s about to lose Bridgestone.

        1. Really only in Canada? He crashed in Australia, Malaysia and ended in gravel also on Saturday in Spa…

          1. In Canada, Hulkenberg pushed him into the wall in a poorly judged manouver. In Aus he suffered front wing failure, leaving him with no means of stopping or steering properly into the corner. In qualifying in Belgium, he simply slid off in a driver error. None of these three incidents are anything like Vettel’s kamikaze driving.

          2. I don’t recall Kobayashi crashing in Malaysia. In the race, he retired with engine failure I believe.

            1. Yes, you are right, it was in China…

      3. Some of these comments are a little bit naive,
        There seems to be an assumption that Vettel’s error was purposefully made… or somehow inherently evil because he hit someone doing it…

      4. Yes – I am absolutely, positively sure that we need Kamui in F1. Aside from having a Japanese driver with a forseeable future, the sport needs more of these characters. He reminds me very much of when Lewis came into the field; plenty of natural talent and not afraid to try a few audacious overtaking moves, even if they do involve the odd shunt, which as a rookie is inevitable.

    6. Kobayashi really seems to have come into his own lately. Once Sauber sorted out all of their reliability nightmares (presumably thanks to James Key), it seems to have given him the confidence he needed to drive really well. His biggest problem seems to be his qualifying pace. Kind of the anti-Vettel in a way, not good single lap pace, but great race craft. It would be awesome to see him in a top car. If he could get a seat he might just have what it takes to be the first Japanese race winner ever.

    7. Japanese or not, Kobayashi definately deserves his place in F1. Nay, in a better car. Ideally he should graduate to a mid-field car like Force India or Williams, prove his worth there and then hopefully go on to a top team.
      Easily the most impressive rookie, although Kubica has obviously had a tougher team mate.

      1. Sorry, meant Petrov has had a tougher team mate

    8. Damage limitation on Sunday with a very solid drive by F1s top rookie this year (yes, he’s got me convinced as he does more in worse equipment compared to Petrov.]

      1. Well put. And they both need to get the Saturday sorted. On Saturdays, I think Huelkenberg is doing pretty good as a rookie, staying close to Barrichello, and Alguesuari has been doing pretty well for his car too.

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