Kamui Kobayashi

- Published on Dec 11th, 2010 by Jack Lamure

Life Before F1
Left Japan early (aged 18) for Europe and quickly started to impress. Won the Formula Renault Eurocup in 2004 before two solid seasons of F3 Euro Series (eighth in 2005, fourth in 2006) led him to GP2. Here his career hit the rails a bit. He was Asia Series champ in 2008-09, but the field wasn't much to shout about. 2009 was meant to be his breakthrough year in the championship but he totally flopped, leaving everyone who'd been paying attention all the more stunned when it turned out he was a bit of an ace at the wheel of F1 machinery. Sometimes GP2 misses the real gems.

F1 Career
When Kobayashi was given the call-up to replace the injured Timo Glock at Toyota for the final two races of 2009 many of us rolled our eyes. It was, we dismissively muttered, simply the Japanese team giving a seat to their distinctly average Japanese protegee. How wrong we were.

2010 started badly - six DNFs from the first eight races - but eventually saw Kamui rediscover the form we saw in late '09. There was a stunning late charge in Valencia, sixth place at Silverstone and further points in Belgium, Japan, Korea and Brazil. Sauber's points haul was almost entirely his doing.

His banzai style - he's always got the back-end wobbling under braking - keeps everyone entertained and his passing move can light up a race (see Japan 2010 for a classic example). Can he provide his nation with their first genuine F1 star? The signs are good and 2011 could be a big year for the man from Amagasaki.

And Another Thing...
Kamui's father owns a sushi restaurant in Japan, a profession he claims he would have joined too had he failed to find a drive for 2010.