Kamui Kobayashi was pleased to break his seven-race run of pointless finishes in Abu Dhabi this evening, returning to the top ten for the first time since visiting the Nürburgring back in July. The Japanese driver made up places well from his 16th place grid slot, crossing the line just ahead of fellow Sauber driver Sergio Pérez.
"I am happy to having scored a point today, I have had a pretty long period without scoring and for me it was important to put an end to this," said Kobayashi. "I had a really good start and was able to make up five positions on Lap 1.
"Actually the performance of the tyres during and after the start was better than expected. I started on the Medium compound as I was only 16th on the grid, and this is obviously a situation in which you have to take chances.
"But we knew it would be a difficult first stint, and it was not really clear how long those tyres would last. They dropped off after a few laps and then I lost three positions before I pitted after lap five for soft tyres. I think overall it was a good race by us."
Pérez admitted that he had hoped for more from Sunday's Grand Prix, being overhauled by his team-mate following a first lap clash with Adrian Sutil.
"I had higher hopes for the race today," the 21-year-old admitted. "It is a shame what happened on lap one. There was a queue into turn seven and I couldn’t avoid hitting Adrian Sutil’s car. It wasn’t immediately clear how big the damage was, but then the team told me my front wing was broken and I had to pit after Lap 2.
"We then decided to go for the medium compound when we did the nose change. On my third stint, again on soft tyres, I was driving in tenth for a while, but then I struggled with the tyres and also for the last 12 laps my KERS wasn’t working."
Sauber's result moves them one point clear of Toro Rosso in the Constructors' Championship, but the squad has now slipped to 15 points behind Force India.
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Sergio Perez
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| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |  L. Hamilton | McLaren | 1:37:11.886 |
| 2. | F. Alonso | Ferrari | +8.457 |
| 3. | J. Button | McLaren | +25.881 |
| 4. | M. Webber | Red Bull | +35.784 |
| 5. | F. Massa | Ferrari | +50.578 |
| 6. | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | +52.317 |
| 7. | M. Schumacher | Mercedes | +1:15.964 |
| 8. | A. Sutil | Force India | +1:17.122 |
| 9. | P. di Resta | Force India | +1:41.087 |
| 10. | K. Kobayashi | Sauber | +1 Lap |
| 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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