Kamui Kobayashi confident ahead of Malaysian Grand Prix – Formula 1 news
Sauber driver Kamui Kobayashi has claimed that his team will perform well in the upcoming race at Sepang in Malaysia.
The second race of the 2011 Formula 1 season is scheduled to take place on Sunday, 10 April.
The Sauber team had a good start to the 2011 Formula 1 season, as both of their drivers Sergio Perez and Kobayashi finished 7th and 8th respectively. However, they were later disqualified by the race stewards for technical infringements.
The Japanese driver stated, “After our good performance in Melbourne we are, of course, very motivated for the next race. The guaranteed higher temperatures in Malaysia, though, will make a big difference. I especially expect the tyre degradation to be significantly
higher there, so this might result in different race strategies.”
Kobayashi further added, “I hope we can continue like that with our pace. The circuit is nice with a couple of high speed corners, and the layout offers more overtaking opportunities than we had in Albert Park.”
Mexican driver Perez, who made his Formula 1 debut with Sauber in Australia, was also bullish about his team’s chances ahead of the second race of the season. He was impressed with the pace of his car and stated that the team’s aim was to finish in points
consistently.
The rookie driver further added that he had raced on the Sepang circuit back in 2009, while he was racing in GP2 Asia. He explained the Malaysian circuit to be a challenging one, as it demands a lot from the drivers both physically and technically.
Other than Sauber, there was one more team which came up with a surprise. The Russian driver Vitaly Petrov finished third in his Renault ahead of Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and McLaren’s Jenson Button. However, Petrov’s teammate Nick Heidfeld, who replaced
injured Robert Kubica, did not have an ideal start to his campaign as he finished outside the points classification.
These teams may have started the season on a positive note, but will have to work hard in order to perform consistently. Strong teams like Ferrari and Mercedes will be eying an improvement ahead of the next race and will be trying their level best not to
let their opponents get away with crucial points in the season.
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