The rise and fall of Kamui Kobayashi

F1 At the age of just 29, it appears that Kamui Kobayashi’s Formula One career might already be behind him.

As recently as six years ago, Kobayashi made his Formula One debut at the Brazilian Grand Prix of 2009, and his form thereafter put him amongst the ranks of the very best Japanese drivers to have competed in Formula One.

But just four years after making his debut, Kobayashi was left without a drive for the 2013 season, with his former team, Sauber, opting for a combination of Esteban Gutierrez and Nico Hulkenberg over Kobayashi and Mexican driver Sergio Pérez.

Now, the man dubbed by some as the greatest Japanese Formula One driver of all time is consigned to the fringes of top level racing, and in 2015 he swapped Formula One for the Japanese SuperFormula season, in which he drove for Kygnus Sunoco Team LeMans.

There are many who are calling for constructors in Formula One to give Kobayashi the break that he needs in order to fulfil his potential, not just for the driver himself, but for Japan’s relationship with the sport of Formula One. The nation’s love affair with racing has always been a somewhat fragile one, despite a steady stream of drivers having emerged from the Far East over the years.

In Japan, Formula One’s popularity has to compete with the country’s fanatical passion for baseball, as well as its growing appreciation for soccer and, in the age of the internet, casino games found at sites like http://www.32red.com/jp/, luxurycasino.com or galacasino.com. 32Red is offering odds of 3/1 on Sebastian Vettel for the 2016 Drivers' Championship, but whether the Japanese audience will maintain their enthusiasm for a sport in which they are not represented at the moment remains to be seen.

Kobayashi’s spell in the spotlight

Kamui Kobayashi at Sauber

During his five years as a Formula One driver, Kobayashi became known for the combative, aggressive driving style that won him admirers amongst spectators and fellow drivers.

He won his first World Championship points in only his second race, when he finished sixth at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in 2009, and had Toyota not withdrawn from Formula One in the 2010 season, Kobayashi was tipped to be one of the team’s lead drivers.

Sauber came to his rescue, pairing him with Pedro de la Rosa, and Kobayashi repaid their faith in him time and time again across the course of the season, finishing in the top 10 places in the races at Turkey, Spain, Britain, Hungary, Belgium, Korea, Brazil, and on home soil in his native Japan.

His performances earned him a second season at Sauber, and the points continued to roll in during 2011, with superb drives at the Malaysian Grand Prix and the Monaco Grand Prix delivering eighth and seventh-placed finishes, respectively.

The 2012 F1 season would prove to be Kobayashi’s best, as he continued to forge a successful partnership with Perez at Sauber.

A fifth-place finish at the Spanish Grand Prix was followed up with four consecutive points places, and then a career-high fourth place at the German Grand Prix.

But the best was yet to come. Kobayashi crowned a great season with a podium finish in front of his home supporters, finishing third at the Japanese Grand Prix, making him the first Japanese driver to achieve a podium in Japan since Aguri Suzuki in 1990.

Fall from grace

Kamui Kobayashi & Felipe Massa on the podium in Japan

But Kobayashi’s 12^th place finish in the Drivers’ Championship wasn’t enough to earn him another season at Sauber, and all of a sudden the man dubbed Japan’s greatest Formula One driver was without a drive for 2013, at the age of just 27.

He returned in 2014 with the Caterham F1 team, but he managed no better than a 13^th place finish at the Malaysian Grand Prix in a season that was marred by an uncompetitive car and uncertainty over his place as one of Caterham’s first-choice drivers.

Having tasted the incomparable atmosphere of Formula One, it seems hard to believe that a driver of Kobayashi’s talent will settle for a career driving in inferior competitions. The likes of 32Red and other bookmakers will be keeping an eye on things and for what happens now. He has achieved two podiums at Team LeMans in Japan’s SuperFormula, but one suspects he may be awaiting another opportunity to step back into the limelight, and revive his career on the world’s biggest stage.

Sites like TitanBet and 32Red still offer odds on Kobayashi making a return to Formula One, but should he fail to earn himself another drive in the big time, he will nevertheless be able to reflect upon a career full of incident and excitement, not to mention a grand total of eight top-six finishes, a podium in his home country, and 125 career points.

Here’s hoping we haven’t seen the last of Kobayashi in Formula One.

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