Rumors suggest Kobayashi might be off to Renault for 2010
November 25, 2009 by vmr
Filed under People & Events, Top Story
While the published information is still relatively light, reports are suggesting that Kamui Kobayashi might be in talks with Renault to become the second driver for the French team during the 2010 Formula1 season and to bring along some serious personal sponsorship.
Generally rumor-mongering GMM has issued a story that French motorsport magazine Auto Hebdo has published an article Wednesday suggesting that Kobayashi, who mixed it up with world-champion Jenson Button in both his first and second F1 races ever to general acclaim (not having crashed himself nor more experienced drivers on the grid and scoring three points in his second race), is in talks with Renault for the other drive available after the teams has signed Robert Kubica as one driver for 2010.
Most interesting is the mention in the article that both Panasonic (title sponsor of the now-defunct Toyota F1 team) and Japanese telecom company KDDI are looking into remaining heavily involved in F1 and in Kobayashi personally. With Toyota out of the picture, it was generally assumed that Kobayashi, who looks to be a talent, would be forced to delay his full-time F1 entry for a year or two. The personal sponsorship by both companies suggested by this report would allow the young Japanese driver to remain in the sport.
Auto Hebdo is a widely read and respectable news source with good ties to the French auto industry and a recent interview with USF1 team principal Ken Anderson. However, there is no mention of this article on the magazine’s website. This makes the GMM article suspicious, though the agency generally does not quote a news source directly without some sort of printing truth. More information will be published when available, though, on the face of it, the story appears to be both likely and truthful. Considering the excellent and aggressive driving displayed by Kobayashi at both the Brazilian and Abu Dhabi GPs, his ability to bring money to a team will be a great advantage for the future. of both himself and the sport.
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Isn’t there also the possibility that Kobayashi and his sponsors end up at Sauber-Ferrari if Renault pulls out of F1?
I really enjoyed Koba’s races, it could be defined the rookie of the year even if he did only two races, it showed some talent, best of the newcomers.. He could be the best japanese ever in f1 and i really hope he’ll be on the grid. I suppose if Renault survives will try to pick a french but it seems there is no real young french talented drivers, after the collapse of Grosjean…
He did more in 2 races than most newcomers do in a season. More than deserves his chance and if his potential sponsors can overlook Renault’s ‘cheating’ then a viable reason for the team to remain in F1.
Where does it leave Heiki?
It’ll be nice to see a driver other than Alonso drive the wheels off of the Renault … if Renault does eventually quit hopefully Kobe will get enough exposure and seat time to secure his next seat with another team.
Too bad every time I see him on the track I’ll be wondering what would have happened if he drove for Toyota next season …
As long as he ends up geting an opportunity it’s all good to me
If I were Toyota principals back in Tpkyo, I would write out a £15,000,000 cheque, hand it over to Renault and have Kobayasj=hi in the second Seat. That would be a wise investment and more manageable from the usual annual £200million invested in an F1 team. With Kobayashi in Renault, everytime he gets mentioned, so would Toyota. So Toyota would in effect still participate in F1 for a few more years without actually participating… and save a bundle in the process.
If Toyota were serious about seeing Kobayashi succeed, they need to sell their F1 team so it can continue. This is the organization he has been a part of and he knows the car and crew. It would be a relatively seamless transition to a full time F1 ride.
In contrast, Renault just came off its worst season in a long time, and there’s no telling how or if they will recover. Kubica is used to driving a dog of a car from last year’s BMW and in ’07 when the car was built for Heidfeld. Besides, Kubica’s reputation could probably take a beating for a year and he can continue in F1 somewhere else.
We know Kobayashi can drive a good car. But what if Renault builds another pig? If Renault struggles and suffers as a result, there’s no telling if his F1 career will survive. That’s a lot of pressure to place on a rookie.
Kobayashi would be better off at a new team where there’s less pressure. Or like I said, Toyota needs to sell their team rather than mothball it.
I think the best thing about him going to Renault would be the possibility of him show up his nasally enhanced teammate Kubica
Interestingly, Kobayashi and Kubica followed similar paths in their early careers. However, Kubica was more successful in each step of the ladder and ended up in F1 relatively earlier (he is 2 years older also). Then they both showed up their more experienced teammates in their early F1 races.
If Kobayashi ends up at a continuing Renault F1 team, it will be an interesting comparison to Kubica.
Kobayashi gets to drive for the Nissan F1 team?
That would make a lot of sense.
Most of you will know Nissan is owned by Renault. Nissan is known for its sporty cars (Z, GT-R) and Renault’s Carlos Ghosn is having issues with F1′a (or lack of) green credentials.
I’m sure this would also make a lot of sense to Panasonic and KDDI.