Kamui reckons he could have had a podium in Spain yesterday, if only he'd been able to take part in the third qualifying session.
Having made it through to the Q3 shoot-out he wasn't able to take part in the final session, having stopped his Sauber out on track during Q2 because of hydraulic problems. It's worth noting that there has been a lot of discussion on the web since Saturday about Q3 qualifiers not setting laps "to save tyres", however this does not appear to have been the case for Kobayashi.
His fifth place equals his best ever finish, having done the same in Monaco last year but Kamui obviously has a lot of faith in the 2012 Sauber:
I absolutely believe I could have made it onto the podium today if I had not been so unlucky in qualifying yesterday. If you start ninth you can be happy finishing fifth, but the car had more potential.
To illustrate his on-track abilities, which have been proven time and again since he stepped into the Sauber, he passed both Jenson Button and Nico Rosberg on-track and without the help of DRS:
I was in traffic and overtaking was not easy. I could not do it on the straights with the help of the DRS because there I wasn't close enough. So I had to take some risks and do it in the corners. I damaged my tyres quite a lot in the last stint.
Kamui does not lack self belief and would obviously love to equal, if not beat, Perez second place finish to prove his worth.
I'm already convinced that he can win races, but have cautioned that maybe next year is the time for him to step up into a faster car. I'm pretty sure that his consistency in points scoring, in combination with his attacking style, will see him outscore Perez over the season and will attract the attention of the bigger Piranhas in the club.
Roll on Monaco...
