Sauber struggled on Korea’s low-grip surface and couldn’t get the super soft tyres to work.
Kamui Kobayashi | Sergio Perez | |
Qualifying position | 14 | 17 |
Qualifying time comparison (Q2) | 1’38.775 (-0.668) | 1’39.443 |
Race position | 15 | 16 |
Laps | 54/55 | 54/55 |
Pit stops | 3 | 3 |
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 | 53 | 54 | 55 | |
Kamui Kobayashi | 116.406 | 108.852 | 108.467 | 107.699 | 107.527 | 107.334 | 108.443 | 106.982 | 106.858 | 110.665 | 123.863 | 105.464 | 105.4 | 105.645 | 107.297 | 117.278 | 136.415 | 115.03 | 155.281 | 152.143 | 107.316 | 107.794 | 106.857 | 111.716 | 125.422 | 104.221 | 104.445 | 105.906 | 104.44 | 105.16 | 104.83 | 104.328 | 104.038 | 104.181 | 103.961 | 103.354 | 103.315 | 104.053 | 103.161 | 103.343 | 103.835 | 108.202 | 119.328 | 102.236 | 102.08 | 102.632 | 105.254 | 102.779 | 102.66 | 102.663 | 102.673 | 103.88 | 107.632 | 102.763 | |
Sergio Perez | 119.004 | 108.711 | 108.767 | 108.064 | 107.608 | 107.486 | 107.034 | 107.306 | 107.42 | 106.899 | 106.698 | 106.536 | 106.011 | 106.186 | 106.672 | 115.905 | 153.803 | 114.979 | 154.858 | 152.461 | 107.027 | 105.383 | 104.526 | 104.53 | 104.761 | 104.799 | 104.414 | 104.138 | 104.223 | 104.077 | 104.317 | 104.251 | 104.197 | 104.561 | 105.346 | 110.732 | 120.421 | 103.059 | 102.425 | 102.573 | 103.049 | 103.328 | 103.129 | 102.966 | 103.43 | 103.028 | 103 | 103.288 | 104.003 | 104.422 | 104.963 | 105.243 | 116.962 | 120.918 |
Kamui Kobayashi
Start tyre | Soft |
Pit stop 1 | Super soft 21.623s |
Pit stop 2 | Super soft 25.578s |
Pit stop 3 | Super soft 21.472s |
Kobayashi said his qualifying position of 14th was an accurate reflection of the car’s potential: “The main problem is still a lack of grip, which is caused by a combination of factors. My lap as such in Q2 was okay, I can’t complain about traffic and didn’t make a mistake.”
Kobayashi started on soft tyres but discarded them for super softs after ten laps. He had already damaged his front wing in a collision with Sebastien Buemi and picked up more damage when he was squeezed by Rubens Barrichello and touched the back of Bruno Senna’s car.
“I also had some damage to the rear wing, but I don’t really know where this was from,” he added.
After pitting to change this front he wing on lap 24 he needed another stop to reach the end of the race which dropped him behind Heikki Kovalainen.
“There was obviously no chance to score points today,” he concluded. “We were just too slow, but we will go and work on it.”
Kamui Kobayashi 2011 form guide
Sergio Perez
Start tyre | Soft |
Pit stop 1 | Super soft 21.225s |
Pit stop 2 | Super soft 21.385s |
Pit stop 3 | Super soft 21.971s |
Perez described his qualifying as “very bad” and he started from 17th on the grid.
He started on the soft tyres but ran into difficulty after switching to the super softs. The problem intensified on the final lap when he locked up, damaging the tyre: “I had to pit and change them three laps before the end because the front right tyre had a hole in it, and you could see the casing.
“It was a shame, but there was no way I could have finished the race with those tyres.”
2011 Korean Grand Prix
Image © Sauber F1 Team
Mr draw
17th October 2011, 13:02
Sauber is quickly going downwards the last couple of races. They even lost the ability to preserve the tyres. :(
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
17th October 2011, 13:45
I hope not. That would be a disaster, given how good they usually are. I’m hoping this was a set-up glitch and they can sort everything out for India.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
17th October 2011, 13:48
I would love to see Kobayashi back at the higher end of the field. It just doesn’t seem right he’s been so far down on the last two occasions.
marco_ferrari
17th October 2011, 14:29
Kobayashi is average since Canada… I never rated him very highly, so od I am not really surprised with his struggles even against less experienced Pérez…
Mike (@mike)
18th October 2011, 3:35
Seems to me both of the Sauber drivers are struggling.
Sauber has just been out developed. Hopefully because they got a head start on next years cars. God I hate the off season.
Seyr (@seyr)
17th October 2011, 22:01
I get the feeling Sauber have gone backwards due to a lack of development relative to the other mid fielders. Koba and Perez are probably overdriving to compensate and running into tire problems.