Formula 1: Sauber take a step forward
With more than half the season now complete, some cars seem to be making their way forward while others are making their way backwards. With lots of new teams on the track the number of drivers on the grid this year has increased to 24. It seems that most of the newcomers are still struggling to keep pace with the development of the cars at the front. The Hispania Racing team, the Virgin Racing team and the Lotus teams are all new to the grid for this season. Lotus is making a return to Formula 1 but still they haven’t been familiar with the sport for quite a while now. Their last involvement with Formula 1 was in the 1994 Australian Grand Prix. However all these teams have one thing in common; none of them have scored a championship point so far.
Like Lotus, there is one other team that is making a return to Formula 1 and that is the Sauber team. In 2006 BMW shifted its support from the Williams team to the Sauber team. Being associated with BMW meant that the team had vast resources when it came to development and picking drivers. The team enjoyed a very good high during this partnership as Robert Kubica was able to give the team its first victory in the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix. Sadly this is the only race victory that the alliance brought. Eventually at the end of the season, Peter Sauber offered to buy the team back after BMW decided to withdraw from Formula 1 while recession hit Europe.
This season saw them struggling in the opening races. To date, the car has had 12 retirements and one DNS (did not start) amongst the two drivers. Seeing this kind of form would often mean that the team would be going nowhere in the season, but the experienced and wily Peter Sauber has found a star in Kamui Kobayashi and with him in form it seems that the season could still provide a lot of positive steps for the team.
Kobayashi made his mark in Formula 1 at the end of last year when he was called in as a replacement for the injured Timo Glock. He was only able to take part in two races. In Brazil, he finished ninth which meant he was just outside the points. The last race of the season was in Abu Dhabi where he was able to get his first points finish when he brought the Panasonic Toyota Racing car in at sixth position. On both occasions, he was classified ahead of his teammate Jarno Trulli. What caught the attention of people was his style of driving. In a field where people are more concerned with consolidating their positions, he was seen as a star that was always on the attack. If he saw a car in front of him, his aim was to get as close to it as possible and then try and find a way past. More often than not he did.
This panache for overtaking was once again seen in the last round at Valencia. The Japanese driver pitted from third position with only four laps to go in the race. He came out in ninth place just behind Sebastian Buemi and Fernando Alonso who were battling for seventh and eighth place. Before the end of the race, he had overtaken both the cars on a track that is reputed for lacking any on field overtaking moves. He showed his class once again in Silverstone last weekend. He was disappointed with qualifying when he finished in only twelfth. But during the race, he kept his cool and finished the race in sixth position.
His streak of impressive performances now sees the Sauber team ahead of Toro Rosso in terms of the Constructors title. The upgrades they brought to Silverstone saw a marked improvement in their performances. Pedro de la Rosa in the sister Sauber was able to make it to Q3 but was unfortunate to not finish the race after Adrian Sutil clipped his rear wing. With the team on the rise, it seems like the midfield battle will get even more interesting as they now close in on the Williams and Force India team. With back to back races coming up in two weeks time, it seems their timing could not have been better.
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