Oct.20 (GMM) Kamui Kobayashi is a possibility for a race seat at Toyota next season, team president John Howett has confirmed.
The 23-year-old made his debut in injured Timo Glock's place at Interlagos last weekend, and if German Glock is not recovered by next week, the Japanese will again feature on the Abu Dhabi grid.It has been believed for some time that Toyota is pushing for Kobayashi, the reigning champion of GP2 Asia, to feature in the F1 lineup, and rumours when Glock had a cold at Suzuka earlier this month caused some reporters to cynically diagnose the German with "Kobayashi fever".It is rumoured Kobayashi's appearances towards the end of the 2009 season might have some connection with a meeting of Toyota's executive board in Tokyo, when on November 15 the struggling car-making giant will consider the team's budget for 2010.Kobayashi was praised by some for a high-profile race last Sunday, but there was also some criticism, including by Jenson Button who said the "absolutely crazy" Japanese had been weaving in the braking zones.Moreover, when asked about Kazuki Nakajima's big crash, Williams' chief engineer Rod Nelson said "Kobayashi moving across him" had resulted in the accident.Howett told Reuters: "You have to say we have to give him serious consideration but still pace-wise he was a bit slow so we have to see."
