The Utterly Smashing Kamui Kobayashi Love Thread

jackanderton · Post by **jackanderton** » 18 Oct 2010, 14:41

That's actually really nice. 35 euro though.

Cannot Afford!!

bduddy · Post by **bduddy** » 20 Oct 2010, 21:46

I was going to say something about how the Kamui merchandise was way more expensive than Pedro's, but then I remembered that they fired Pedro... must be a closeout sale... >_>

CarlosFerreira · Post by **CarlosFerreira** » 21 Oct 2010, 08:50

Just a final note on Kamui's race in Japan: it's not just the overtakes and the show. It's the fact he was ACTUALLY VERY FAST throughout the race, he was up there, he made no mistakes. In fact there were two crashes around him at the started which he managed to avoid, then he kept the tyres alive for long enough, and finally he went on to extract loads of performance from the car. Great showing.

Bleu · Post by **Bleu** » 24 Nov 2010, 20:23

Interview of Kamui in F1 Fanatic

What is your secret for overtaking?

KK: Because I am Japanese I have small eyes – so I can’t see the others guys.

…and seriously?

KK: If I feel I can overtake I just do it. That’s all, no secret.

Nessafox · Post by **Nessafox** » 24 Nov 2010, 21:25

well, we're talking about the driver who wanted to be a cabaretier but wasn't good enough for it and turned a F1driver instead after all

seems he isn't that bad at all

LionZoo · Post by **LionZoo** » 25 Nov 2010, 22:15

So how would we rate the 2010 performance of "F1Rejects' Favorite Driver" (tm)?

BigG80 · Post by **BigG80** » 26 Nov 2010, 14:02

I have to say I think it was a highly impressive first season.

I was getting pretty worried and started to wonder if we were following a false prophet after the first few races but Kamui really came on song before the midpoint of the season and some of his drives such as Valencia and Japan were just incredible.

Singapore was a bit of a fail what with the self induced crash and some Buemi-esque overtaking but the highs outweighed the lows by a long way.

I do believe that he deserves a better car in a year or two and maybe we could see our first ever Japanese race winner.

The difficult second album awaits.

LukeB · Post by **LukeB** » 26 Nov 2010, 14:42

If you ignore the complete mess that was the start of his season (though he was more often then not getting caught up in it rather then causeing it) he's had a great year. Singapores been his only outright bad performance and that was more then made up for with a superb showing at Suzuka. He's demonstrated more then just a depressingly rare desire to actually overtake people, he's also got some outright speed about him.
On track he's been the most entertaining driver all season (off track that award goes to Red Bulls cack handed driver management

). Viva Kobayashi!

Post by **mario** » 26 Nov 2010, 17:04

BigG80 wrote:I have to say I think it was a highly impressive first season.

I was getting pretty worried and started to wonder if we were following a false prophet after the first few races but Kamui really came on song before the midpoint of the season and some of his drives such as Valencia and Japan were just incredible.

Singapore was a bit of a fail what with the self induced crash and some Buemi-esque overtaking but the highs outweighed the lows by a long way.

I do believe that he deserves a better car in a year or two and maybe we could see our first ever Japanese race winner.

The difficult second album awaits.

I have to agree that, on the whole, Kobayashi has done well in his first full season. OK, at the beginning of the season, it wasn't a great start, although given how unreliable his car was, it was unsurprising, and later proved to be a hidden blessing by saving him so much engine mileage. In fact, in the first eight races of the season, he retired six times, and only scored a point once (in Turkey), where he was pressed by his team mate quite strongly.

Ironically, perhaps his season was only really kick started into gear at the venue that nobody loves, the Valencia Street Circuit, albeit thanks to some good fortune with the safety car and a late change onto soft tyres. After that point, and as Sauber regained a bit more form following changes to the Ferrari engine to make it more reliable, both he and Sauber seemed to find their feet in the latter half of the season.
Whilst Singapore was, if we are honest, a disaster from start to finish (to be honest, he was driving so erratically in the practise sessions that it seemed like a question of when, not if, he would hit a barrier), the way that he dug deep to redeem himself in Japan was impressive (although why Alguersuari was not cautioned, or even spoken to, after deliberately turning into Kobayashi's side is something I don't get). It seems to be the case that he relished having his back to the wall, being faced with a difficult track to learn and a reputation which had taken a bit of a battering at Singapore, and was even more determined to set that to rights - sometimes it pays off, sometimes not, and this time it did so quite dramatically.

The only downside is that Sauber, and Kobayashi, seemed to rely a bit too much on trying to make their contrary strategy of a long stint on the hard tyre, followed by a short and aggressive stint on the softs at the end of the race. Sometimes that worked well - as it did in Japan, to spectacular effect - but several times it did not, such as in Brazil, where his pace on the hard tyres just wasn't good enough to make the strategy work well.

So, all in all, I would say that despite the occasional blips in performance in the latter half of the season, and an initially shaky start in conditions which would have tried the patience of any other driver on the grid, he has rightly earned praise for his efforts.
However, next year looks to be a tougher test for him - instead of a veteran, he will have a promising rookie alongside him, and a team looking to him to lead by example. Although Sauber's financial position looks much more promising with Telmex sponsorship, and the pain of BMW's departure will be dimishing, it remains to be seen whether Sauber can offer their drivers a solid points scoring car, which I hope they can, or not.

BigG80 · Post by **BigG80** » 26 Nov 2010, 23:53

My post has been agreed with by Mario....I have truly arrived!

After re-reading this thread I decided I really wanted a Kamui shirt to go with my Minardi, Super Aguri (oh yeah!) and WIlliams ones but as they're a bit pricey I've just spent £3.99 on a fetching mid-2000s long sleeved Sauber shirt. Kerching! Cash back!

Henrique · Post by **Henrique** » 01 Dec 2010, 18:50

http://www.formula1.com/news/interviews/2010/12/11581.html

Peter Sauber also said nice things about Kobayashi.

Jeroen Krautmeir · Post by **Jeroen Krautmeir** » 06 Dec 2010, 03:17

Well, look who gets the Autosport Rookie of The Year Award! (and F1 Rejects one as well!)

For the record, I contributed a vote to Kamui.

Henrique · Post by **Henrique** » 06 Dec 2010, 16:16

Jeroen Krautmeir wrote:Well, look who gets the Autosport Rookie of The Year Award! (and F1 Rejects one as well!)

For the record, I contributed a vote to Kamui.

Excellent. The first award of many, I hope.

Salamander · Post by **Salamander** » 06 Dec 2010, 22:42

Jeroen Krautmeir wrote:Well, look who gets the Autosport Rookie of The Year Award! (and F1 Rejects one as well!)

For the record, I contributed a vote to Kamui.

As did I. And it is a very well deserved award too - for all the talk about Hulkenberg and Petrov, Kobayashi outscored them both in worse machinery and looked better doing it. It's as simple as that.

Phoenix · Post by **Phoenix** » 07 Dec 2010, 21:01

BlindCaveSalamander wrote:
Jeroen Krautmeir wrote:Well, look who gets the Autosport Rookie of The Year Award! (and F1 Rejects one as well!)

For the record, I contributed a vote to Kamui.

As did I. And it is a very well deserved award too - for all the talk about Hulkenberg and Petrov, Kobayashi outscored them both in worse machinery and looked better doing it. It's as simple as that.

Truth be told, he has a bit more experience than both Nico Hülkenberg and Vitaly Petrov, and it's Japanese as well!

jackanderton · Post by **jackanderton** » 30 Jul 2012, 18:01

As KK is coming to a bit of a crossroads in his career, I had a look at how Kobayashi is doing in comparison to some of his Japanese compatriots in the sport. (The ones who had a long enough career to bother with)

Kobayashi:
51 race starts
Teams: Toyota, Sauber
Best position: 4th place, German GP 2012
Top 6 finishes: 6
Top 8 finishes: 13
Top 10 finishes: 23

Shinji Nakano:
33 race starts
Teams: Prost, Minardi
Best position: 6th place 1997 Canadian GP/6th Place 1997 Hungarian GP
Top 6 finishes: 2
Top 8 finishes: 8
Top 10 finishes: 9

Ukyo Katayama:
95 race starts
Teams: Larrousse, Tyrrell, Minardi
Best position: 5th place 1994 Brasilian GP/5th place 1994 San Marino GP
Top 6 finishes: 3
Top 8 finishes: 8
Top 10 finishes: 16

Takuma Sato:
90 race starts
Teams: Jordan, BAR, Super Aguri
Best position: 3rd place 2004 USA GP
Top 6 finishes: 11
Top 8 finishes: 14
Top 10 finishes: 19

Saturo Nakajima:
74 starts
Teams: Lotus, Tyrrell
Best position: 4th place 1987 British GP/4th place 1989 Australian GP
Top 6 finishes: 10
Top 8 finishes: 21
Top 10 finishes: 27

So:

Sato has the highest position of them all, and the most finishes inside the top 6, most of which were in his 2004 season for BAR, where despite performing well, he was outshone by 85 points to 34 by Jenson Button, and came 8th in the WDC in the 2nd best car.

Saturo Nakajima was similarly destroyed by Senna in his best year (1987), but if you look at his finishing positions, he has a very similar record to Kobayashi.

Kobayashi has never had a top 2 car like Sato did, or a top 3 car like Nakajima did so it seems fair to say his record is favourable with everyone on this list. All his top 6 finishes were unexpected whereas Sato in 2004 should've been there on the basis of performance. However, is Kobayashi similarly about to be outshone by a teammate- with Sergio Perez now pencilled in as The Next Big Thing? The best thing to do would be to compare his points with Perez since they've been teammates:

KK: 30+ 33 = 63 points
Perez: 14+ 47 = 61 points

However, will Perez' podiums and hype kill Kobayashi's career at this level?

My thinking is that Kobayashi needs to find a way onto the podium himself at some stage this year if he's to remain in the sport as a force and not an also ran.

RonDenisDeletraz · Post by **RonDenisDeletraz** » 31 Jul 2012, 01:05

With the exception of Perez's podiums the two Sauber drivers have genrally been quite close.

Phoenix · Post by **Phoenix** » 02 Aug 2012, 11:28

If I was Kobayashi, I'd seriously consider going back to my roots and become the crazy driver he used to be without any regard for the consequences. It's risky, but I think this is what his career needs the most right now. He's slipping into a dangerous anonimity and I really believe his results would pick up if he was less conservative and more like his 2010 self, even if he suffered more collisions in races.

Salamander · Post by **Salamander** » 02 Aug 2012, 14:07

Phoenix wrote:If I was Kobayashi, I'd seriously consider going back to my roots and become the crazy driver he used to be without any regard for the consequences. It's risky, but I think this is what his career needs the most right now. He's slipping into a dangerous anonimity and I really believe his results would pick up if he was less conservative and more like his 2010 self, even if he suffered more collisions in races.

The problem isn't that Kobayashi has changed his approach - he still pulls off the odd banzai move here and there. The problem is that Sauber's strategies really do not play to his strengths. I really don't see why they just keep the tyre conservation strategy for Perez, and put Kobayashi on an aggressive strategy where he can always attack.

IdeFan · Post by **IdeFan** » 02 Aug 2012, 19:32

Phoenix wrote:If I was Kobayashi, I'd seriously consider going back to my roots and become the crazy driver he used to be without any regard for the consequences. It's risky, but I think this is what his career needs the most right now. He's slipping into a dangerous anonimity and I really believe his results would pick up if he was less conservative and more like his 2010 self, even if he suffered more collisions in races.

I don't think Kobayashi's banzai reputation is deserved, he is an aggressive driver but rarely gets involved in needless collisions. He had a few crashes very early in his career (first few races of 2010 spring to mind) but I don't think it was anything more than you would expect from an exuberant but inexperienced rookie and certainly not the Kamikaze style of his compatriots.

If he wasn't Japanese I doubt he would have that kind of reputation.

FullMetalJack · Post by **FullMetalJack** » 02 Aug 2012, 19:58

IdeFan wrote:
Phoenix wrote:If I was Kobayashi, I'd seriously consider going back to my roots and become the crazy driver he used to be without any regard for the consequences. It's risky, but I think this is what his career needs the most right now. He's slipping into a dangerous anonimity and I really believe his results would pick up if he was less conservative and more like his 2010 self, even if he suffered more collisions in races.

I don't think Kobayashi's banzai reputation is deserved, he is an aggressive driver but rarely gets involved in needless collisions. He had a few crashes very early in his career (first few races of 2010 spring to mind) but I don't think it was anything more than you would expect from an exuberant but inexperienced rookie and certainly not the Kamikaze style of his compatriots.

If he wasn't Japanese I doubt he would have that kind of reputation.

This. He's very level-headed for a Japanese driver, but will still overtake when the opportunity arises. That's what's so good about him.

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 02 Aug 2012, 21:20

I will just disrupt this discussion momentarily by saying that, when it's dry, Kobayashi is still better than Perez. There. I've said it. Now, back to the discussion and no, Kobayashi cannot be considered as a crazy driver. Not now and not at any point of his F1 career. I say this because of a certain Mr Maldonado, who is also on the grid...

RonDenisDeletraz · Post by **RonDenisDeletraz** » 03 Aug 2012, 09:57

My favourite driver driving for my favourite team, I really hope he does well.

Dan B · Post by **Dan B** » 04 Aug 2012, 21:15

This is something I have been thinking for a while, but is there any top flight team Kobayashi can realistically go to?

The first bet would be Ferrari. Sauber uses Ferrari engines and they (Ferrari) have used and continue to use Sauber as their "proving grounds" team, such as with Perez. However, Kobayashi isn't on any young driver track like Perez or Esteban Gutierrez, so would this hurt Kobayashi's chances? And even though this year might be Massa's last with Ferrari, Montezemolo did call Perez "unexperienced," (which was unnecessary and wrong) and this is with Perez scoring 2 podiums, where Kobayashi's best result was 4th. Yes the two have been close, but podiums count.

Lotus would be another consideration, but this depends heavily on Raikkonen's position with the team. If Raikkonen for whatever reason does leave, I can see Kobayashi coming in. Grosjean is staying with the team, however.

There is McLaren, though aside from some Japanese sponsorship and manufacture with the cars (Aigo, Enkei wheels), I can't think of any Japanese driver who has been with the team (though neither with Ferrari for that matter).

Red Bull would be even more out of the picture, since Vettel doesn't seem to be going anywhere, and neither does Webber for that matter.

RealRacingRoots · Post by **RealRacingRoots** » 29 Aug 2012, 18:27

From a recent interview of Kobayashi... (as seen on the WTF1 facebook)

LellaLombardi · Post by **LellaLombardi** » 01 Sep 2012, 12:11

RealRacingRoots wrote:From a recent interview of Kobayashi... (as seen on the WTF1 facebook)

He is a legend.

Salamander · Post by **Salamander** » 01 Sep 2012, 13:36

LellaLombardi wrote:He is a legend.

Even moreso now - that had to be some lap to take 2nd. Hopefully he can convert it to his first podium finish!

pasta_maldonado · Post by **pasta_maldonado** » 01 Sep 2012, 13:37

BlindCaveSalamander wrote:
LellaLombardi wrote:He is a legend.

Even moreso now - that had to be some lap to take 2nd. Hopefully he can convert it to his first podium finish!

Or if Button goes backwards or is hampered by a shite McLaren pitstop, a first win?

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 01 Sep 2012, 13:53

pasta_maldonado wrote:
BlindCaveSalamander wrote:
LellaLombardi wrote:He is a legend.

Even moreso now - that had to be some lap to take 2nd. Hopefully he can convert it to his first podium finish!

Or if Button goes backwards or is hampered by a shite McLaren pitstop, a first win?

Just so long as he doesn't get taken out by Pastor at La Source...

(Mmmmmmm...... Pasta Sauce......)

pasta_maldonado · Post by **pasta_maldonado** » 01 Sep 2012, 13:55

dr-baker wrote:
pasta_maldonado wrote:
BlindCaveSalamander wrote:Even moreso now - that had to be some lap to take 2nd. Hopefully he can convert it to his first podium finish!

Or if Button goes backwards or is hampered by a shite McLaren pitstop, a first win?

Just so long as he doesn't get taken out by Pastor at La Source...

That corner might be the souce of Kamui's misery tomorrow....

Paul Hayes · Post by **Paul Hayes** » 01 Sep 2012, 16:31

I hadn't realised until they showed the top three press conference earlier that he was the first Japanese driver ever to qualify on the front row. I see Button was equally surprised to learn this - perhaps he assumed, like me, that his erstwhile teammate Takuma Sato must have had a front-row slot at some point.

Good on Kobayashi, anyway. As a Button fan I'm not sure I want him to win tomorrow... But if Jenson can't for whatever reason, let's hope he's in with a chance!

Salamander · Post by **Salamander** » 01 Sep 2012, 17:32

Paul Hayes wrote:I hadn't realised until they showed the top three press conference earlier that he was the first Japanese driver ever to qualify on the front row. I see Button was equally surprised to learn this - perhaps he assumed, like me, that his erstwhile teammate Takuma Sato must have had a front-row slot at some point.

Good on Kobayashi, anyway. As a Button fan I'm not sure I want him to win tomorrow... But if Jenson can't for whatever reason, let's hope he's in with a chance!

Taku did make it to the front row once, actually, in the 2004 European Grand Prix.

AdrianSutil · Post by **AdrianSutil** » 01 Sep 2012, 21:25

Paul Hayes wrote:I hadn't realised until they showed the top three press conference earlier that he was the first Japanese driver ever to qualify on the front row. I see Button was equally surprised to learn this - perhaps he assumed, like me, that his erstwhile teammate Takuma Sato must have had a front-row slot at some point.

Good on Kobayashi, anyway. As a Button fan I'm not sure I want him to win tomorrow... But if Jenson can't for whatever reason, let's hope he's in with a chance!

Probably why button was so surprised by the comment. Sato DID start on the front row when the were teammates in 2004 :lol:

Journalism fail at its best there..

RonDenisDeletraz · Post by **RonDenisDeletraz** » 02 Sep 2012, 09:04

I am so happy about the qualifying result, as I said before he is my favourite driver driving for my favourite team.

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 21 Jan 2014, 11:36

Epic Bump!

No reason for this thread to be buried in the forum archives.

Kamui is BACK with Caterham and he will come with a vengeance! Here's hoping he scores the team first points!

Eifelland · Post by **Eifelland** » 21 Jan 2014, 11:39

Can we declare this some sort of forum holiday?

tkcom · Post by **tkcom** » 21 Jan 2014, 12:32

DanielPT wrote:Epic Bump!

No reason for this thread to be buried in the forum archives.

Kamui is BACK with Caterham and he will come with a vengeance! Here's hoping he scores the team first points!

Of course, via turbo attrition.

rachel1990 · Post by **rachel1990** » 21 Jan 2014, 13:27

I'm So Happy this new has come through today.
Talent over money AGAIN!!!

Post by **Ataxia** » 21 Jan 2014, 13:34

rachel1990 wrote:I'm So Happy this new has come through today.
Talent over money AGAIN!!!

...not quite, KK has approximately £6m backing him.

Nonetheless, I'm absolutely over the moon! Glad to see Kamui back in F1, and although I'd rather see van der Garde in the other Caterham his reserve role at Sauber looks like a decent move.

Time to celebrate...with tea.

FullMetalJack · Post by **FullMetalJack** » 21 Jan 2014, 13:36

DanielPT wrote:Kamui is BACK