Kamui Kobayashi has explained that Sauber ‘were just too slow’ during the Korean Grand Prix on Sunday, with the Japanese driver and team-mate Sergio Pérez struggling to 15th and 16th respectively. Adding to the team’s woes, Heikki Kovalainen out-raced the pair at the wheel of his typically slower Team Lotus machine.
"My start was okay, except I couldn’t gain any positions," Kobayashi explained. "When I was fighting with Buemi our cars touched and the front wing was damaged. I changed to supersoft tyres after ten laps, as I had started on the softs. When the Safety Car came out we lost the advantage from the fresh tyres, as everyone was pitting then.
"I also had some damage to the rear wing, but I don’t really know where this was from. At almost mid distance Senna was behind me and was pushing extremely hard, which actually resulted in a damaged front wing. Because of that my car was understeering a lot, I then had to pit earlier than planned to replace the front wing.
"After the second stop I was able to overtake a couple of cars at the back of the field, but there was obviously no chance to score points today. We were just too slow, but we will go and work on it."
Pérez added his feelings: "Initially my start was pretty good, but then I got stuck behind some other cars and the positions I gained were lost again. In the beginning with the soft tyres it was quite good, but then with the supersoft tyres I struggled.
"During the last stint especially they degraded way too much. I had to pit and change them three laps before the end because the front right tyre had a hole in it, and you could see the casing. It was a shame, but there was no way I could have finished the race with those tyres. However, we didn’t have the pace today to finish in the points."
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Sergio Perez
Kamui Kobayashi
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| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |  S. Vettel | Red Bull | 1:38:01.994 |
| 2. | L. Hamilton | McLaren | +12.019 |
| 3. | M. Webber | Red Bull | +12.477 |
| 4. | J. Button | McLaren | +14.694 |
| 5. | F. Alonso | Ferrari | +15.689 |
| 6. | F. Massa | Ferrari | +25.133 |
| 7. | J. Alguersuari | Toro Rosso | +49.538 |
| 8. | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | +54.053 |
| 9. | S. Buemi | Toro Rosso | +1:02.762 |
| 10. | P. di Resta | Force India | +1:08.602 |
| Full results | |||
| Kamui Kobayashi | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| More Kamui Kobayashi photos | |||
| Sergio Perez | |||
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| More Sergio Perez photos | |||
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