The fight and the fun
You can’t help but warm to Kamui Kobayashi. Meet him off the track
and he’s all smiles and laughing, the personification of cool. He likes
to chill out on the beach, “carpe diem” (“live for today”) is his motto.
Once behind the wheel of a racing car, however, the easy-going charm
soon melts away – as his Formula One rivals discovered in his first two
Grands Prix late last year. He attributes his successful overtaking
manoeuvre on newly crowned world champion Jenson Button in Abu Dhabi to
different race strategies, but can’t disguise his pride at passing Kimi
Räikkönen just after the start.
Kamui Kobayashi comes from an unremarkable background, the son of a
sushi restaurant owner in Amagasaki west of Osaka. Neither his parents
nor his older brother or younger sister share his passion for motor
racing. However, he began pestering his father for his own set of wheels
at a very early age, and was just nine years old when he entered his
first kart race in Japan, supported initially by his father and Yamaha. A
string of victories made his case for a place on Toyota’s Young
Drivers’ Program, and he was soon on his way to Europe. He has seen very
little of his family since the move overseas, and even when he does
travel to Japan he tends to head for Tokyo rather than Osaka. The
independent life he took on as a teenager has stuck.
Europe
Aged 17 he moved to Italy to compete in the highly competitive 2004
Italian Formula Renault championship. “I got an apartment and a lot of
support from Toyota,” he recalls gratefully. However, as far as everyday
issues were concerned, he was very much on his own. Kobayashi arrived
in Italy with Japanese as his only language. In the supermarket he found
himself struggling to tell washing-up liquid from shampoo. “Every day
was a challenge,” he cheerfully recalls. “The Italians were so different
from the Japanese. We are more like the Germans – very punctual, very
proper. I liked the Italian way of life from the start.” But wasn’t
loneliness a problem? “It was tough at times, but I knew what I wanted; I
was in the right place to become a racing driver.”
He may have become “Europeanised” now, but when asked if he is proud to
be Japanese he answers without hesitation: “Yes, of course!” His helmet
design confirms this affinity to his native country. The red colouring
is taken from the red at the centre of the Japanese national flag.
Kobayashi’s fascination with motor sport boils down to a single
word: fight. Fear is not something he is familiar with inside the car.
His aim is to win. While this appears to jar somewhat with his laid-back
demeanour off the track, his transition into a determined racer when he
gets behind the wheel is as effortless as it is genuine. “If you do
something for fun, then you should enjoy it. I don’t like to be surly or
difficult. I can be a good loser, just not out on the track.” He even
draws a line between his professional and private life when it comes to
the weather: “I can’t be doing with rain,” he admits. “Unless I’m in a
racing car. Then it’s a challenge.”
For Kobayashi, the history of Formula One began in 2003. “That’s
when I first saw Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso battling it out;
from that point on I wanted to be racing in Formula One as well.” As
for any earlier era in the top category of motor racing, he began
following the sport too recently to comment.
Development
In 2005 Kobayashi won both the Italian Formula Renault and Formula
Renault Eurocup titles, an achievement matched only by Felipe Massa
before him. That success led him into the Formula 3 Euro Series and, at
the end of the year, to Macau, where he managed to secure pole position
on the extremely challenging circuit as well as gaining a qualifying
race win and a boost in confidence. In 2007, victory at Magny-Cours in
France and further podium finishes secured fourth place in the overall
standings of the Formula 3 Euro Series, and with it promotion: Toyota
signed him up at the end of 2007 as the Formula One team’s reserve
driver for 2008.
With the F1 regulations limiting testing to a minimum, the
“substitutes’ bench” in Formula One is more like a sin bin nowadays.
However, as a reserve driver you have to be ready to deliver maximum
performance when you get the call. In 2008 and 2009 Kobayashi competed
in the GP2 series in Asia and Europe. It didn’t take him long to record
his maiden victory in GP2 Europe, and in the winter of 2008/2009 he won
the GP2 Asia title with something to spare. Buoyed by these early
breakthroughs, his subsequent inability to build on his success in the
main GP2 series in 2009 was all the more disappointing. “We still don’t
quite understand what went wrong,” concedes the former DAMS team driver.
“But the situation made the opportunity I was given to step into the
Formula One seat all the more valuable. For this reason, last year’s
Brazilian Grand Prix was probably the most important race of my career
so far,” he says, reflecting on his first race deputising for Timo
Glock. Not that he was totally happy with his performance: “I did better
in the GP2 race in Dubai and the final Formula One race of 2009 in Abu
Dhabi,” he says.
Formula One
By the time Kobayashi climbed into Glock’s Toyota cockpit for free
practice at Suzuka on 2nd October 2009, seven months had passed since he
last sat in a Formula One racing car. Two weeks later he was lining up
for the first of his two F1 races to date. In his debut outing at
Interlagos he qualified 11th and went on to finish ninth in the race
itself – just a whisker outside the points-scoring positions. Then at
the season finale in Abu Dhabi he qualified 12th, was the best of the
drivers on a one-stop strategy and picked up three points for sixth
place. In both races his combative ability marked him out as one to
watch, while in Abu Dhabi his ability to carefully manage a race
strategy also attracted praise.
Kobayashi views openness, honesty and sportsmanship as important
attributes, and in that regard Peter Sauber ticked all the right boxes.
“I was impressed that he showed me the new car so soon after we had
shaken hands on an agreement,” he underlines. “And I was thrilled to see
just how cutting-edge the factory was in Hinwil. That wasn’t how I’d
imagined it.”
For his part, Sauber built up a picture of the young Japanese
driver as he watched him in action. “Kamui put in a very good
performance in the race at Interlagos,” confirmed the experienced team
boss. “But his race in Abu Dhabi was just brilliant.”
Personal Data:
Born |
13th September 1986 in Amagasaki (JP) |
Nationality |
Japanese |
Residence |
Cologne (DE) |
Website |
www.kamui-kobayashi.com |
Marital status |
Single |
Height / Weight |
1,70 m / 63 kg |
Hobbies |
To enjoy holidays and life |
Favourite food |
Japanese food but no raw fish |
Favourite drink |
Milkshakes |
Favourite music |
House |
Favourite track |
Magny-Cours and Silverstone |
Languages |
Japanese, English |
Career:
1996
Began karting in Japan, 3rd place SL Takarazuka Tournament (Cadet
Class)
1997
1st place SL All Japan Tournament (Cadet Class)
1998
1st place JAF Cup West (Cadet Class)
1999
1st place SL All Japan Tournament (S stock, D class)
2000
1st place All Japan Junior Kart Championship, 1st place Suzuka Kart
Championship
2001
1st place All Japan Kart Championship (ICA Class),
Asia Pacific Championship (ICA Class),
Participated in Esso Formula Toyota Racing School, acquired scholarship
2002
Kart Euro Championship,
Debut in single seater racing Esso Formula Toyota Series (round 10)
2003
2nd place Formula Toyota, Japan
2004
Signed to Toyota Drivers Academy, Toyota Driver Program, 7th place
Formula Renault Italy, 3 pole positions, 2 wins
2005
1st place Formula Renault Eurocup, 4 pole positions, 6 wins, 1st
place Formula Renault Italy, 4 pole positions, 6 wins
2006
8th place Formula 3 Euro Series, Rookie of the Year, Pole position
and win race one in Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix, Formula 1 Test for
Toyota
2007
4th place Formula 3 Euro Series, 1 pole position, 1 win
(Magny-Cours)
2008
6th place GP2 Asia (DAMS), 2 wins (Sepang, Sakhir), 16th place GP2
main series (DAMS), 1 win (Barcelona), Formula 1: official third driver
for Panasonic Toyota Racing Team
2009
1st place GP2 Asia (DAMS), 2 pole positions, 2 wins, 16th place GP2
main series (DAMS), Formula 1: official third driver for Panasonic
Toyota Racing Team, participated in free practice in Suzuka, race debut
in Interlagos, first points in his second Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi (6th
place)
F1 statistics pre-2010:
First GP |
Brasil 2009, 9th place |
GP started |
2 |
Best race result |
6th (Abu Dhabi 2009) |
Best qualifying result |
11th (São Paulo 2009) |
Points in total |
3 |
Wins |
- |
Pole positions |
- |
Podium places |
- |
Fastest race laps |
- |