Kobayashi urgently seeks a sponsor!
The future of Kamui Kobayashi in Formula 1 is unclear. The Japanese driver absolutely needs to find a sponsor to finance and sustain his presence with the Sauber team. His recent good performances are not enough to ensure the continuation of his career.
Kamui Kobayashi is not sure if he can stay with Sauber next year. The financial aspect of the partnership between the driver and the team is at the heart of the negotiations. The recent performances of the Japanese driver, including his podium in Suzuka, do not seem to guarantee his presence in Formula 1 next year.
Moreover, the Sauber driver hardly had time to celebrate his first podium in the discipline on the evening of the Japanese Grand Prix as he confides to our colleagues from Autosport: « After my return from Suzuka and Korea, I wanted to celebrate all this, but I didn’t really have the time. I need to work to find a sponsor. It’s not really what we wanted to do after Suzuka, but that’s the situation. »
The Sauber team is waiting for a driver who will bring, in addition to good results, a significant budget. This is something Kamui Kobayashi learned the hard way: « Normally, for top teams, this is not important because they have a large budget. But for less affluent teams, there is a need to bring a budget. It’s a different system. This is what we need to understand. »
However, the Japanese driver insists that he remains focused on the end of the season: « We need to fight to score even more points in the championship. It’s essential. At the moment, I think I need to focus even more on the current season, we’ll see afterwards. »
The clear objective of the Sauber team is to join and then surpass the Mercedes team in the Constructors’ Championship standings, as they are only twenty points behind. Kobayashi finds this objective realistic and achievable: « It’s hard to say, but I think we can do it. I don’t know exactly what we need, but even two or three points will be very important. But twenty points in four races, that’s not so bad. »
The struggle between these two teams could resemble David versus Goliath. Indeed, there is a significant budget difference between the German team and the Swiss team: « They have a big budget, so it might be a little bit easier for them. We are not expecting many improvements on the car for the rest of the season. »
