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Kobayashi 'promised Sauber points'

Kamui Kobayashi had an eventful race fighting through the midfield © Sutton Images

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• Race:
• Turkish Grand Prix

• Championship:
• FIA Formula One World Championship

• Drivers:
• Kamui Kobayashi

• Teams:
• Alfa Romeo

Kamui Kobayashi said that he had promised team principal Peter Sauber some points ahead of the Turkish Grand Prix.

Kobayashi started the race in 24th place having lost drive in his Sauber on his first timed lap of qualifying, but still managed to climb up to 10th to take the final points-scoring position. He said that he had promised his team principal that he would get in to the top ten, and would have finished seventh had he not suffered a puncture at the end of his second stint.

"Before the race I had promised Peter (Sauber) to score points today," Kobayashi said. "It is just one point now because we lost so much time due to a puncture, which was the result of touching Sébastien Buemi when I overtook him. Otherwise I think I could have finished seventh and score more points. The car was great and also the team had a very good strategy for me, so I want to thank them for this. In the end I had to be a bit careful and save the tyres, because the last stint was quite long with 20 laps, but it worked out well."

Peter Sauber praised the performances of both his drivers, describing Kobayashi's progress through the field on a three-stop strategy as "amazing".

"The strategy could not have been any better," Sauber said. "Kamui overtook countless drivers, and Sergio [Perez] also passed many competitors. Unfortunately neither driver was able to get the full reward they deserved today. However, Kamui scored one point despite starting from the back of the grid, which was amazing."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.