Kamui Kobayashi confesses he will not be driving in 2013 F1 season – Formula 1 news
Former Sauber F1 driver, Kamui Kobayashi, has admitted that he has failed to secure a race seat for the 2013 F1 season despite being able to raise a donation of €8 million through his website.
“I was in the position to bring a budget of €8 million at least,” Kobayashi said to his fans on his website. “If you could imagine the time I had, it was [an] overwhelming reaction and it shows there still is a great potential from Japanese companies. Unfortunately,
the time was still short and I am not able to secure the seat with [a] competitive F1 team for 2013. I have to admit that it is very sad and feel sorry for fans and Japanese companies who supported me. But I am still confident to make it happen in 2014.”
The Japanese driver has asked for the donation to be stopped but has stated that he will be saving the already raised money for his future. He added that he is considering his options for 2013 and is also aiming for a competitive F1 team for the 2014 season.
He added that he is not planning for any other racing categories and will announce as soon as he has made some decision for 2013.
Kobayashi said that he is thankful to everyone who made a donation or tried to make one and he appreciates that his fans helped making this big news in Japan which has returned interest from Japanese companies. He told that he has received good support from
many companies in Japan.
Kobayashi secured points finish nine times during the 2012 F1 season which also included a third place in the Japanese Grand Prix. This past season was the Japanese driver’s fourth full season in F1 making it the second one with Sauber F1 while having spent
2010 F1 season with BMW Sauber F1. His debut F1 season was with Panasonic Toyota Racing in 2009.
The driver lost his seat to Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Gutierrez who his making his F1 debut in 2013. Kobayashi’s teammate from 2012, Sergio Perez, has moved to McLaren.
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