Kamui Kobayashi was part of the Toyota Young Driver Programme. He had a success-filled time in Japanese karting. Victory became a habit very early in his career and he clinched titles for five successive years in his homeland before winning a scholarship with the prestigious Esso Formula Toyota Racing School in 2001.

His rapid development in karts led to a move to Europe for 2002, where he proved he had what it takes to make the step up to car racing a year later, finishing an impressive second in his first full season of the Esso Formula Toyota Series.

That proved to the be the first step on a ladder which has led to Formula 1, inspiring him to head for Italy to take on the Formula Renault Championship, a proven breeding ground for future talent.

In just his first season of Formula Renault, at the age of 18, Kobayashi quickly found his feet and was on the podium within four races. By the sixth round of the season he was a winner, taking the honours in two of the three races at Misano.

More wins soon came a year later as Kobayashi stormed to the Formula Renault Italian Championship after standing on the top step of the podium six times, including a double at the legendary Monza venue.

Next step on Kobayashi's road to the top came the Formula 3 Euro Series and despite the big step up from Formula Renault cars, he adapted well and took stunning sixth and fifth places on his debut at Hockenheim. More top six finishes followed to secure the rookie of the year title, as well as an impressive eighth overall.

Away from the Euro Series, Kobayashi hit the headlines with pole position for the prestigious Macau Grand Prix on the challenging street circuit. He followed that up with an impressive victory in race one. At the same time, Kobayashi was competing in the GP2 Series in Asia and Europe in 2008 and 2009. He claimed an early maiden win in the European GP2, and in winter 2008/2009 he took a convincing title in the GP2 Asia.

In 2009 he made his Formula One race debut as a replacement driver for the injured Timo Glock. Kobayashi raced for Toyota in the last two Grand Prix of the season and convinced Peter Sauber to sign him for his first full Formula One season in 2010.