Kamui Kobayashi

Kamui Kobayashi came into Formula 1 through the back door and made his name by overtaking. A Japanese driver born in 1986, he was a Toyota test driver when in 2009 he had to replace the injured Timo Glock for the last two races. In the second, in Abu Dhabi, he finished sixth.

Toyota left Formula 1 that winter and Sauber gave him a seat. In his three seasons there he earned a reputation as one of the boldest overtakers on the grid, in a car that almost never started near the front. He was twelfth in the championship all three years, and the best was 2012, with 60 points.

That year brought the moment he is remembered for: at the Japanese Grand Prix, at Suzuka, he started third and finished third, with the home crowd chanting his name. It was his only podium and the first for a Japanese driver at his home race since 1990.

Without a seat for 2013, he went to endurance racing with Ferrari. He came back in 2014 with Caterham, without points, and then built a career outside Formula 1: with Toyota he won the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2021.