Kamui Kobayashi drove a sparkling race in Valencia as he registered Sauber's second points finish of the season. The Japanese driver certainly re-established his reputation as a racer, taken away by some critics by virtue of the team’s under par performances at points so far this season.
Knocked out of contention in Q1 on Saturday, ex Toyota driver Kobayashi started 18th on the grid and held position in the opening laps. However, he soon found himself running third after the Safety Car period and early-race pit chaos.
Pitting himself in the late stages, Kamui emerged ninth before brilliantly passing both Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari and Sébastien Buemi’s Toro Rosso on the final two laps, with the second overtake coming at the final corner of the race.
“Before the race we had decided to use separate tyre strategies for Pedro (de la Rosa) and I,” Kobayashi explained. “I started on the harder ones and didn’t pit when everybody else did.
“It was great racing there at the front but it was not easy either because I had Jenson Button close behind me all the time and also I had to look after my tyres - I was careful not to overdrive them.
“After my pit-stop I had only four laps to make use of my fresh tyres; at that moment I had better grip than anybody else and I felt I had to make the most out of it. Of course it was a risk to overtake Alonso and Buemi, if it hadn’t worked out and I had crashed I would have been in trouble…”
Series
Formula 1
Personalities
Kamui Kobayashi
Other
Get your official Formula 1 tickets at Sportstadium.com
| Kamui Kobayashi | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 |  |  |  |
| More Kamui Kobayashi photos | |||
English
Nederlands
Español
Italiano
