Oct.11 (GMM) Kamui Kobayashi was the hero of Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix, enhancing his growing reputation as the launcher of kamikaze overtaking moves. To the delight of his Japanese fans, the Sauber rookie scythed through the field from fourteenth on the grid to seventh at the finish.
“The way he overtook several competitors was absolutely spectacular,” said team CEO Monisha Kaltenborn, standing in as team boss in Japan for the absent Peter Sauber.
The 24-year-old launched audacious moves on Adrian Sutil, Rubens Barrichello and Jaime Alguersuari, but teammate Nick Heidfeld was dispensed rather more easily.
“The team asked me not to make any problems for him,” the German is quoted by Swiss newspaper Blick.
The paper’s veteran correspondent Roger Benoit asked Kobayashi precisely how many overtaking moves he attempted at Suzuka on Sunday.
“I can’t remember,” he answered. “I only know that there were crashes all around me at the start, and later I made some contacts with my opponents. My car is rather damaged!”
Kobayashi who made his debut at the Brazilian GP in 2009 said, “I tried my best and I am very happy. It was a great race for our team, and I’m very pleased for the Japanese fans who have watched an exciting race.”
He praised his team for their efforts, “It is the second time we have got both cars in the points, and for me it was really something to come back here and race for the first time after seven years in front of my home crowd. I really want to thank the team for the great job and the fans for their fantastic support.”” Formula One World Championship, Rd 16, Japanese Grand Prix, Race, Suzuka, Japan, Sunday 10 October 2010.
Kamui's Sauber with signs of battle
“Nevertheless it was a very tough race today. Qualifying and the race in the space of only a few hours made it quite a busy and unusual Sunday,” added Kobayashi.
Team manager Beat Zehnder explained: “Some deflectors are missing from the car, and the sidepod has a big hole in it. Also a part of the front wing isn’t there any more”
Renault’s Robert Kubica retired from the race after five minutes with a missing wheel and said: “What Kamui did with his car was super. Because I had to watch on television, he saved my day.”
Despite cuddling Sebastian Vettel and pointing the finger at Mark Webber, Red Bull's Helmut Marko insists both drivers are treated exactly the same.
On track for a 1-2 finish in Sunday's Turkish GP, Red Bull's racers committed a cardinal sin when Vettel, trying to take the lead off Webber, collided with his team-mate. The disastrous move put Vettel out of the grand prix and dropped Webber from first to third.
Upon arriving back in the pits, Vettel was greeted with cuddles from those on the Red Bull pit wall while Webber was handed the blame for the incident by Red Bull advisor Marko.
"It was Vettel's line," Marko ranted. "It was Vettel's corner. Mr Mateschitz (Red Bull's owner) is not happy.""
Having had a bit of time to calm down, Marko later insisted that Red Bull are not favouring Vettel.
"We are handling our team and both drivers in the same way," he said. "Vettel was under such pressure and if such a situation comes up - you have to look after the team. We still could have been 1-2."
But despite that, he still believes Vettel had to attack Webber for the lead - and was in the right.
"It wasn't a situation where we were racing each other. We were under enormous pressure from the McLarens - they were much faster on the straights so we had to gain our advantage in the corners.
"He had to attack otherwise he would have got overtaken by Hamilton - it would have been completely different if the McLarens were 10-seconds behind, but that wasn't the case.
"He was already ahead, at least two metres ahead, and there was a corner to the left side coming, so he had to go for the line. He cannot brake on the dirt because for sure he knows what happens.
"But it was unnecessary the whole situation. We will talk with everybody quite clearly to make it not happen again."
共
64
則