Christmas and Easter must have come at once for the Sauber team at the Turkish Grand Prix, for not only did both cars finish a race for the first time in 2010, but Kamui Kobayashi scored the team’s first point of the season!
The 2010 season is officially the worst start to a Formula 1 campaign for the team since in its history, since it debuted at the 1993 South African Grand Prix.
The Japanese driver picked up a solitary point for 10th place, but it must have felt like a victory for the Swiss team, which has endured an appalling season to-date, by its standards at least.
"I am very happy that we finished the race with both cars and got the first point," a delighted Kobayashi said after the race. "I had a good start although I was on the dirty side of the track and the pace of the car in the beginning was good.
"Our race strategy was not easy. The car was better on the harder tyre compound, therefore we did a very short first stint on the softer ones. I pitted after ten laps and drove the rest of the race with the same set of tyres.”
Team-mate Pedro de la Rosa (pictured) finished one spot behind Kobayashi and right under his team-mate’s gearbox, despite having what he believed to be the quicker car at his disposal.
"I am very happy to have been competitive, but I wanted something more," he is quoted by the Spanish sports newspaper Marca. "I was close to the points but when you have to fight your teammate for it, it is difficult.
"I had to restrain myself. I wanted to attack him but on the radio they said other things," the 39-year-old revealed.
[Original image via GP Update]
Richard Bailey
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