Sauber F1 Team Inspired by Kobayashi

Kamui Kobayashi impressed everyone in his first full-time campaign in Formula One last year, providing the audience with some highly spectacular overtaking maneuvers in selected races (some of his other appearances have been marred by pointless accidents). Overall, the spirit he brought to the surviving BMW Sauber-Ferrari outfit has been more than positive, which is why team owner Peter Sauber can't stop from praising his Japanese driver.

Following a season in which he was paired with two of the most experienced F1 drivers in the roster – veteran Pedro de la Rosa and Nick Heidfeld – the 24-year old scored 32 of the team's 44 points in the manufacturers' race. More importantly though, the manner in which he did it put a smile on everyone's face back in the Sauber garage.

“Kamui inspires us all within the team. His refreshing, attacking style really puts a smile on your face,” said Peter Sauber, according to Autosport.

“You can tell from reactions in the stands that the Formula 1 fans love him too; his overtaking moves are always great to watch. However, it would be doing him an injustice to only focus on this aspect of his driving. Kamui is also a very clever driver and understands how to put a pre-defined strategy into action.”

Sauber insisted that there is a whole lot more to come from his driver in the future, especially now that he already has one full season of F1 experience backing him up.

“He's progressed wonderfully well this year and I'm certain that there's more to come from him in the future,” added the Swiss boss, who also admitted his satisfaction of silencing the critics in 2010.

“When I signed him a year ago, I had to put up with critical comments from some experts. But my gut feeling told me that Kamui was something special. And today I'm just delighted to have him in the team.”