Sauber driver Kamui Kobayashi’s performance in the 2011 Formula 1 season so far
Former GP2 Series driver Kamui Kobayashi is currently driving for the Sauber-Ferrari team with his new teammate Sergio Perez in the 2011 Formula 1 season. He has scored some decent points for his team in the season so far.
The Japanese driver made his debut in Formula 1 in 2009. Panasonic Toyota Racing F1 team brought Kobayashi to the mainstream and he drove for them throughout the 2009 season. He joined Sauber team in 2010 and still he is driving for them in the ongoing season.
The team driver did not have a good start to the 2011 F1 season, as he was disqualified from the first race due to some technical issues in his C30 car. He completed all laps of the Australian Grand Prix, but due to having technical issues during the race
he was not classified on the race results sheets.
He received positive results from the 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix. Kobayashi was 66.4 seconds off the pace of Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel, who was the winner of the Sepang race. After starting from the 10th place on the
racetrack he came at the seventh place in the final race classifications.
The Sauber driver was quite happy as well as satisfied with the Malaysian race weekend’s results, as he successfully scored decent points for the team following his disappointing 2011 Australian race results.
In the following Grand Prix, the Hinwil-based outfit driver could not retain his position, as Renault’s Vitaly Petrov and Mercedes GP’s Michael Schumacher were faster as compared to him during the Chinese race.
He started his race from the 13th place on the grid and finished at the 10th place ahead of Force India’s Paul di Resta, who was in the 11th spot at the Shanghai International
Circuit.
The 24-year-old driver was again at the 10th position in the 2011 Turkish Grand Prix after the Shanghai race weekend.
Kobayashi came at the 10th place for the third time in the ongoing season at the Spanish Grand Prix, after struggling a lot on the new 2011 Pirelli tyres.
The team driver enjoyed his Monaco Grand Prix on the sets of supersoft and soft compounds. After putting all of his efforts during the Monte Carlo race Kobayashi ended up in the fifth spot with a gap of 26.9 seconds from Vettel, who was the race winner.
In the Canadian Grand Prix, the Sauber driver made a lot of struggle in wet conditions and finally finished his race at the seventh place for the team.
He pushed back on the midfield in the 2011 European Grand Prix. He came at the 16th place after started the Grand Prix from the 14th position on the Valencia Street Circuit. After the race he told the media
that his car was unable to play a supportive role for him throughout the race weekend and due to that he could not finish his European race in the top ten positions.
The 2011 British Grand Prix proved unlucky for him, as he retired from the race due to an oil leakage issue with his car after 23 laps of the Silverstone race.
He tried to close his gap from the top-runners in the next German Grand Prix and after struggling for his best finish on the sets of medium and soft tyres by Pirelli he came at the ninth position.
In the 2011 Hungarian race weekend, Kobayashi came at the 11th position after starting from the 13th place on the Hungaroring racetrack.
Kobayashi’s performance in the season so far showed that he finished most of his races in the top ten positions.
Let’s see whether he manages his upcoming races in the top ten positions or not.
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