Mixed fortunes for the Sauber drivers as Perez takes seventh but Kobayashi endures a race to forget.
| Kamui Kobayashi | Sergio Perez | |
| Qualifying position | 8 | 12 |
| Qualifying time comparison (Q2) | 1’32.399 (-0.225) | 1’32.624 |
| Race position | 7 | |
| Laps | 23/52 | 52/52 |
| Pit stops | 2 | 2 |
Sauber drivers’ lap times throughout the race (in seconds):
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | |
| Kamui Kobayashi | 121.207 | 115.097 | 113.761 | 113.531 | 113.374 | 113.312 | 112.885 | 113.182 | 121.055 | 112.044 | 108.355 | 136.722 | 108.83 | 105.54 | 104.153 | 103.824 | 103.042 | 102.677 | 105.298 | 98.113 | 127.383 | 101.233 | 100.703 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sergio Perez | 126.739 | 114.929 | 113.907 | 114.911 | 115.201 | 113.731 | 113.139 | 112.942 | 113.098 | 112.726 | 112.332 | 108.813 | 127.051 | 104.907 | 103.922 | 102.653 | 101.838 | 101.662 | 101.048 | 100.976 | 99.958 | 100.129 | 101.085 | 99.862 | 99.751 | 100.031 | 99.659 | 99.386 | 98.288 | 98.139 | 97.987 | 97.02 | 115.481 | 96.943 | 96.656 | 97.589 | 97.102 | 97.674 | 97.352 | 97.081 | 97.437 | 97.202 | 97.615 | 97.516 | 98.129 | 98.048 | 98.107 | 98.994 | 98.313 | 100.671 | 100.123 | 100.933 |
Kamui Kobayashi
Smashed his car up badly in first practice – “I lost control on the wet astro turf” – but his mechanics had the car fixed in time for second practice.
Always dramatic when the track was slippery, Kobayashi reached Q3 for the third time the year an lined up eighth on the grid.
He held his position at the start until he was knocked into a spin by Michael Schumacher on lap eight, which cost him a place to Adrian Sutil.
Kobayashi pitted on lap 13 but made a slow getaway from his pit box and clipped Force India’s airlines as he tried to avoid hitting Pastor Maldonado.
He was given a stop-go penalty for the infraction and the team were fined ?óÔÇÜ?¼20,000 for an “unsafe release”.
The contact with Maldonado damaged his front wing, allowing Nick Heidfeld and Jaime Alguersuari to overtake him. He fell to 18th place after taking his penalty.
Three laps later the team noticed the car was losing oil and told him to stop. “I was very unlucky,” he said.
“I think there is not a lot for me to say about the accident with Michael. We were not side by side, and he obviously hit the rear of my car. From then on I had to drive with a damaged car.”
Kamui Kobayashi 2011 form guide
Sergio Perez
In a very close qualifying session Perez was less than four-hundredths of a second off reaching Q3, but ended up 12th.
He lost a place to Schumacher at the start but gained another from Maldonado a few laps later.
Perez stayed out of trouble and exploited Sauber’s usual tactic of stretching his stints out to make one fewer pit stop than most of the cars ahead.
He spent much of the final stint on Nico Rosberg’s tail. Although he was disappointed not to be able to pass Mercedes, he was satisfied with the result:
“Unfortunately I couldn?óÔé¼Ôäót overtake Nico. I was very close but he was too fast on the straights.
“Overall I am happy and now the difficult times are behind me. After the accident it took me time to get back into the rhythm of the season, and find the momentum I had before it. In two weeks?óÔé¼Ôäó time I shall be even stronger.
2011 British Grand Prix
Image ?é?® Sauber F1 Team
Fixy (@)
11th July 2011, 12:03
It really was a race to forget for Kamui. The bad crash in practice made a lot of damage. But then his qualifying was excellent. Then in the race the spin wasn’t his fault, and the pit lane accident was only partly his fault, and even with the damage he had he had another problem with an oil leak and retired.
BasCB (@bascb)
11th July 2011, 12:44
Sauber is still looking very strong, although Kobayashi had a race to quickly forget dispite some good moves done as well.
M.M.C (@mmc)
11th July 2011, 12:10
Perez is having a fine rookie season, if I say so myself. I’d actually say he’s doing better that di Resta, regardless of the difference in the cars.
Todfod (@todfod)
11th July 2011, 12:35
Its a shame we never got to see Sergio race in Monaco. I suspect he would have been really stellar there..
US_Peter
12th July 2011, 3:59
Yep. Didn’t he win one of the GP2 races there last year?
Marco
11th July 2011, 12:57
I have the same opinion… And I personally rate Sergio higher then Kobayashi…
Marco
11th July 2011, 12:41
Great performance for Sergio… Thumbs up!
Eggry (@eggry)
11th July 2011, 12:46
Perez did great job. actually I think he could pass Nico but he didn’t make it. Kobayashi’s race was total disaster. It’s shame it was good chance.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
11th July 2011, 12:52
Koba’s overtake on Maldonado, just after Maldonado overtook him, was epic stuff.
The kind of thing no one but him seems to do on a racetrack!
Meander (@meander)
11th July 2011, 15:34
+1
He seems to have a great feel for “going for it” but still stay on the safe side and keep his nose clean, both literally and figuratively.
He definitely had “one of those days” sunday, throwing away his great qualy.. I expect him to bounce back though.
F1 98
11th July 2011, 17:03
Hope both sauber drivers make it to the points next gp
F1 98
11th July 2011, 17:04
Both sauber drivers could be world champions
F1sauber (@f1sauber)
12th July 2011, 4:24
Certainly a great race for Perez, a champion in the making! It must have been encouraging for him to be able to start to reap some poins after the loss of those in the initial race of the year and the accident in Monaco. Well done Perez! We trust the Sauber team will capitalize on this grand prix to prepare for the next one, hopefully both cars in points zone.
smifaye (@)
12th July 2011, 8:37
Perez keeps showing he is going to be a star of the future with drives like this. He dealt well with the pressure of arriving to the grid late after his crash on the parade lap.
They didn’t show anything of Kobayashi’s crash or retirement at the track so I was completely unaware of the fact he didn’t finish until I watched the race at home
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
12th July 2011, 13:35
A cracking race for Sergio, Sauber has landed himself a top driver there, clearly his confidence hasn’t been knocked.
Disappointed for Kamui. Clearly a weekend to forget and it’s always painful seeing him overtaken but I guess that’s motorsport for you!