Kamui Kobayashi: The myth-busting F1 megastar-in-waiting
by Jack Lamure on Apr 24th, 2011That Kamui Kobayashi is the finest grand prix driver to emerge from Japan is, in our opinion, already beyond doubt. From the prodigious talent who exploded on to the F1 scene at the Brazilian Grand Prix of 2009 the 24-year-old has developed in to a consistent, established performer, but one who is still known for his daring overtaking moves.
And as such we couldn't stop ourselves from doing a feature on the Sauber man. But, rather than stick to the usual formula, we're focussing on how Kamui's short F1 career has seen him disprove a number of myths. From confirming that Japanese drivers can stand on their own two feet in F1 to showing that not all grand prix drivers are capable of adequate pet care, Kobayashi disproves those myths faster than he dispatches a snoozing Toro Rosso driver at the end of a long straight.
Photo: Sauber Motorsport AG
Myth Number One: You have to be quick in GP2 to succeed in Formula One
When Kobayahsi made his debut at the Brazilian Grand Prix of 2009 some - this writer included - were borderline angry at the Cologne-based team's decision. It was, we foolishly asserted, simply Toyota trying to drum up support for their unpopular-in-the-boardroom F1 programme by running a homegrown driver.
In fact it probably was, because if they'd been watching GP2 for the previous two years they'd have seen little to suggest Kamui was anything more than an also ran. Yes, yes he won the Asia Series in 2008-09, but that was primarily because he contested all the races. The real star of that championship was Nico Hulkenberg (who finished sixth overall despite contesting just two rounds). In the main series - the real barometer of sub-F1 abilities - Kamui finished 16th two years running. He took one win, and that was from pole in a reverse grid sprint race. Basically, he wasn't particularly eye catching.
Kobayashi raced for DAMS in 2008 and '09 with little success. Photo: Glenn Dunbar / GP2 Series Media Service.
But in F1 he's been a star, proving that GP2 form doesn't always translate in to the senior category. At the other end of the scale, Nelson Piquet Jr. was second to Lewis Hamilton in 2006, just 12 points shy of the title-winning Englishman, but you'd never have thought it given the way the two have performed in F1.
Myth Number Two: Japanese drivers only get and maintain F1 drives based on sponsorship
Okay, his F1 break came with Toyota, but after impressing there he's been going it alone, landing a seat at Swiss squad Sauber, with whom he had no prior relationship and whose engine suppliers are not Japanese. He took no sponsorship of note with him, leading to the team's 2010 car looking like a pack of budget photocopier paper, and remains there solely on talent.
Photo: Sauber Motorsport AG
Compare that to recent Japanese racers: Takuma Sato only ever drove Honda-powered cars; Kazuki Nakajima's two seasons at Williams both saw the Grove-based team run Toyota units, whilst his father Satoru was a Honda backed driver. Then there are a slew of racers who got their jobs because they had money behind them: Ukyo Katayama (Mild Seven), Shinji Nakano (Mugen), Tora Takagi (PIAA), Sakon Yamamoto (we're not sure who was funding him or why) - the list goes on. Kobayashi has bucked that trend.
Myth Number Three: Whilst not always sensible on the track, F1 drivers are responsible adults away from it.
Kamui disproved this by doing a very poor job of looking after his pet dog (which this writer, as an avid fan of man's best friend, can't really approve of, but there we go). In a recent interview with F1 Racing magazine he was asked about his canine chum, to which Kamui replied "I don't have dog anymore. I lost it." Err, okay, moving on...
Not Kamui's dog, but rather a Badger fan dog, just in case you didn't know what they look like.
Myth Number Four: Japanese drivers crash - lots
It's true that Japanese drivers have often had a tendancy to throw the car in to the scenery. Remember Takuma Sato? Giancarlo Fisichella will certainly never forget his pint-sized team-mate after he attempted to mount his Jordan at the Malaysian Grand Prix of 2002.
Recalling Kazuki Nakajima's time in F1 two things come to mind: his Williams hitting a mechanic on his F1 debut at Brazil 2007 and his shunt at Australia '09; Taki Inoue managed to get hit by a safety car (okay - not his fault, but he was always quick to bin it himself) whilst the slow-moving disaster that was Yuji Ide managed to tip Christijan Albers' Spyker in to a barrel roll at the San Marino Grand Prix of 2006.
Kobayashi has generally been less crash happy, usually pulling off those gutsy passes rather than slamming in to his rivals, and hasn't thrown it in to the gravel as much as his predecessors. However it's worth mentioning that he's had the odd shunt. Take this example from last year's Australian Grand Prix - it ain't pretty, but it's the exception that proves the rule.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdLKok6sf-E
The Final Myth: A Japanese driver can never hit the heights in F1
This final myth is yet to be disproved - but belief that Kamui will be the man to shatter it is growing with each race he contests. To date, Japanese drivers have taken just two podium finishes (Aguri Suzuki at Suzuka '90 and Sato at Indianapolis 2004), never scored a pole position or come anywhere near launching a title bid. Could Kamui be the man to finally put this one to bed?
It's hard to deny that he's the best Japanese prospect F1 has ever seen - none of his countrymen have combined gutsy overtaking with the speed and consistency he's displayed in the Sauber. He's very quick, mature beyond his years (in racing terms at least) and is fast becoming very consistent. When a seat opens up at a top team he is surely at the front of the queue of young drivers looking to make the leap to the bigtime. And he fully deserves it.
Whether he could then make the final leap to challenge F1's big boys remains to be seen, but there's one thing is for sure: it wouldn't phase him one bit. We've already seen him go wheel-to-wheel with Fernando Alonso in a Sauber - how good would it be to see the two doing battle in equal machinery?
Kamui enjoyed a spot of burger flippin', but we reckon he'd be wise to stick to the day job. Photo: Sauber Motorsport AG
Comments and Discussion
How can you write an article about japanese F1 drivers without mentioning Yuji Ide ????
"whilst the slow-moving disaster that was Yuji Ide managed to tip Christijan Albers' Spyker in to a barrel roll at the San Marino Grand Prix of 2006."
I think that's all the mentioning he needs to be fair!
Honda really ruined poor Yuji's career by throwing him in to F1.
When talking of Japanese drivers in F1. I still think it's quite remarkable that we are still waiting for the first Japanese race winner. This is a country with a great passion for motor racing and is home to some highly competitive series. Not to mention being home to two of the largest car manufactures in the world. All they have managed so far is a long line of also rans! Why? I have no idea, they have everything they need. I hope that Kobyashi can get this Monkey off of the nations back pretty soon. It's only a matter of time before a 'big team' step in for his services.
I have a magazine from Japan, which was running a 'Kamui special'. According to his stars (which is still a very big thing in Japan), this year is going to be one of his best, and then in 2017 he's due a very good year as well.
Then again, the same magazine has some stuff about him possibly driving for Ferrari... not impossible i suppose (given the engines in the Sauber), but still, I can think of many people the Scuderia would choose above Kamui...
But still, what a legend - "if i see a chance to overtake, i overtake - what's the point in waiting"
Also, that Oz shunt was caused by his front wing parting company of its own volition...
Absolutely, I just wanted to put it in there because it's a sight to behold.
Yeah, can't see him ever driving for Ferrari. It's the other Sauber driver they've got their eye on.
They got the racing bug quite later, compared with Europe and South America anyway, so they're playing catch up. Previous Japanese drivers have raced there for too long before coming to Europe, which South Americans have long known is the only way to make it in F1. Sato was the first to not really race at home for long and he was decent, Kamui's done the same and he's better. They're getting there.
It's for drivers like Kobayashi, Pantano and Piquet why i pay little attention to who's finding success in GP2. At the end of the day, they all want to be in F1 but only a handful will ever make it and it does come down to connections rather than ability.
Also, i mentioned elsewhere on the site that racing drivers are not 'jack's-of-all-trades', there will be some formulae which suit drivers styles better than others. Kobayashi's a good example of this being rather good at F1 having failed to shine in GP2. You don't have to search too hard to find many other examples of this. What a driver does elsewhere can often mean diddly squat when it comes to what they can do in an F1 car. The trick is getting oneself into a position in order to be able to show that.
I don't think Japan is the worst country for F1 drivers, it's just they rarely get their breaks in decent cars because they're overlooked by non-Japanese teams, and therefore are forced into paying for their place.
Kobayashi himself wouldn't have got a look-in had Toyota not given him a chance.
Sato was part of Honda and had a shaky few seasons at Jordan and BAR, but matured into a reliable canny racer in his Super Aguri years.
I thought Takagi had good potential but languished in poor Tyrrell and Arrows cars for his 2 season stint. And Kazuki Nakajima while being an enforced part of an engine package wasn't completely hopeless, he just could never translate practice pace when the pressure was put on.
In some ways i don't really want Kamui to risk driving for a top team. Not because i don't want to see him succeed, but often a spectacular driver when given front-running machinery can fail to impress due to a car being capable of the kind of pace at 8-tenths that a slower car would need wringing the neck of to produce. And consequently the driver doesn't push as hard and doesn't get the most out of the package (Frentzen-Williams, Alesi-Benetton). I'd hate to see Kamui's halo slip in this way.
You can let him off the Australian shunt since it came about due to a front wing structural failure. Look carefully and you can see the wing simply fall off prior to him hitting the inside wall.
It wasn't the first time that weekend that the Sauber had had that kind of difficulty.
Re: Pet: Maybe he meant he moved into posher dwellings and had to give up his dog. Or it died. There could be many things a foreign person could actually mean by saying "it's lost".
P.S.
I never did understand the expression "the exception that proves the rule". How can the rule be proven if there are exceptions?? It's like saying "We're banning theft except for this TV you stole last week which doesn't matter because it proves we are" Seriously what does it mean?!
Yes, dollar signs appearing in their pupils while they mourn the loss of Marlboro.
On a slightly different note. Here's the result of Taki Inoue's other encounter with a course car. Assaulted by a Clio being driven by a rally star, while he was minding his own business being towed back to the pits after a break down.
http://bit.ly/ikgCCS
I just hope when he does go to a big team and i think he will at some point, I just hope he doesn't get forced to protect alonso's increasingly lethargic diffuser at ferrari.
"Prove" in this context means "test", rather than the more common meaning of "demonstrate".
You forgot Myth #6 - overtaking is impossible in F1. And that was last year, before DRS, Pirelli tyres and the comeback of KERS.