Kamui Kobayashi made his debut at the 2009 Brazilian Grand Prix for Toyota Racing following a flare-up of an injury for regular driver Timo Glock. He was retained for the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi and scored a points-finish. This led to the Sauber team snapping him up for the next 3 seasons, where he consistently finished in points-scoring positions and made his name as an aggressive mid-pack racer. He was rewarded for his efforts with a podium at the 2012 Japanese Grand Prix, along with 3 other podium finishes for team-mate Sergio Pérez. Despite this, he was left without a drive for the 2013 season. For 2014 he was signed to the backmarker Caterham F1 alongside debutant Marcus Ericsson - and inevitably struggled with the financially inferior team. He was replaced with André Lotterer for the event in Belgium, and sat out the rounds in the United States and Brazil due to the team's financial issues. Kobayashi's (and Caterham's) last race ended in a retirement.