Being the son of Satoru Nakajima, a former Nippon champion and Grand Prix stalwart with more than seventy Grand Prix starts, it was no surprise that Kazuki should take up the sport. Interestingly though, he has made his own way to the top, and not via patronage from his father’s team or long standing Honda connections. In fact his elevation to a full-time Formula 1 ride comes courtesy of a long-term commitment by car giant Toyota, and he will be keen to supplant Takuma Sato in his nation’s affections as the leading Japanese driver.
The young Nakajima started his career in karts and he eventually became the Suzuka Formula ICA champion in 1999. This success brought him into the Toyota Young Drivers Program and he was soon competing in the various junior single-seat classes. In 2003 he won the Formula Toyota championship that brought him into the very competitive Japanese F3 series. In a very satisfactory debut season he won two races and finished a creditable fifth. The following year he again won two races on his way to the runner’s up slot with his Dallara-Toyota, but in reality the series was totally dominated by the Brazilian Joao Paulo de Oliveira.
For the 2006 season Kazuki ventured to Europe to compete in the F3 Euro Series, partnered in the Manor Mortorsport team with his fellow countryman Kohei Hirate. The pair started impressively with Hirate heading a one-two in the opening round at Hockenheim, and Kazuki was soon taking the top step of the podium in Round 4 at Lausitz. Thereafter he made the podium a couple of times, but was generally overshadowed by his team mate, eventually finishing a creditable seventh in the overall standings. There was some mild surprise when the largely unproven Nakajima landed a position with Williams-Toyota as a test driver 2007, whilst also developing his skills in the GP2 series.
Joining the well-fancied DAMS team, the Japanese charger soon proved he had the outright pace to be Championship contender, but his campaign was punctuated by a number of accidents that prevented him from chalking up a victory. There were a number of podium visits, with a best finish of second in the feature race at the Hungaroring, but he could only manage to finish fifth in the overall series standings.
A bonus for Nakajima was an early chance to impress when Williams was handed him a Grand Prix debut in the season’s finale in Brazil. His debut certainly didn’t go unnoticed impressively posting the fifth-fastest lap around the challenging Interlagos circuit. He did however blot his copybook somewhat when he skittled three of his mechanics in a misjudged pitstop. Happily, no serious injuries were sustained, and Nakajima took his car into a steady tenth place at the finish.
Confirmed as the partner to Nico Rosberg in the AT&T Williams team for 2008, Kuzuki’s season started well with a sixth place finish (and his first three championship points) following the disqualification of Rubens Barrichello. Thus far the young Japanese driver has made a promising start, the next 17 races of the season will no doubt prove what he has to offer in the longer term.
