🇯🇵 Kamui Kobayashi

Kamui Kobayashi is an established professional racing driver, FIA Platinum graded, competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Toyota Gazoo Racing and in Japan's Super Formula championship. He has raced for over two decades across multiple categories, from junior single-seaters through Formula 1 to his primary focus in endurance racing, where he has built a sustained record at the highest level.[1]

His career spans 328 starts across 11 series from 2005 to the present. He won the 2005 Formula Renault Eurocup with Prema Powerteam before progressing through Formula 3 Euro, the GP2 Series and into Formula 1 between 2009 and 2014, where he took a single podium across 76 starts for Caterham. Since 2013 he has raced extensively in the WEC, accumulating 83 starts, 19 wins and 49 podiums for Toyota; he secured the WEC title in 2021 and has won the 24 Hours of Le Mans twice with the team, most recently in 2026. In IMSA's WeatherTech series he has 13 starts and 2 wins, including success at the 24 Hours of Daytona in both 2019 and 2020. He has also competed in Super Formula since 2019, taking 3 podiums across 60 starts, and has held entries in Super GT, Formula E and other categories. His current 2026 WEC season is in progress; he has taken 1 win and 2 podiums across 6 rounds so far and sits fifth in the championship standings.[2]

In endurance racing Kobayashi races against a field of established and elite professionals, including multiple world champions. He is closely matched with Sébastien Buemi, a four-time WEC champion and Formula E world champion who has won across 99 WEC starts. Against Jenson Button, the 2009 Formula 1 world champion, he typically finishes behind. Across his entire career he has finished ahead of Lewis Hamilton on five occasions; Hamilton's generational-level record spans six Formula 1 world championships and dominance across every series he has entered. His work for Toyota, one of endurance racing's strongest operations, has placed him among the team's leading drivers across more than a decade of competition.