The Team to beat is Red Bull. To be honest and frank, but McLaren and can push the limits although I doubt the fact that they will snatch a win. Vettel seems to be in the best position and Red Bull can setup their car to gain ground in the mid sectors to compensate on a possible lack of speed on the fast straights compared to McLaren and Mercedes GP. Ferrari will fight back be stronger.
Anyway all this doesn’t really help if you really dont know anything about the circuit. For those who know Malaysia by heart take a fast look but for those who don’t you better spend some time down there.
Headline: Tyres and Brakes
Here we go …
Acclimatization is the key in Malaysia…
The first thing that comes to mind when I think of Malaysia is the heat and the humidity. The extremely hot conditions make it one of the toughest races physically for drivers, teams and cars. The other thing that the extremely hot conditions make Sepang one of the toughest races physically for drivers, teams and cars.
I always think of is the heavy showers that can start to build up in the thundery conditions, like we had during qualifying last year.
But Sepang is a circuit that I like..
It’s one of the modem tracks with high- speed corners and low-speed comers… a bit of everything really.
To help drivers prepare, they spend more time in the heat beforehand. Normally I go straight to Malaysia from Australia and spend two weeks there to get my body acclimatized — although even that’s not really enough to make a massive difference. Still, drivers do some training outside and get their selves used to the heat as best as they can.
There are obviously issues with hydration and nutrition. Drivers have special drinks for the conditions, with more stuff in them than normal sports drinks. The key is to prepare in advance as much as possible.
CIRCUIT STATS
Round 2/19
Track length: 5.543 km
Race length: 310.408 km
Laps: 56
Direction: Clockwise
F1 debut: 1999
Lap record: 1min 34.223secs Juan Pablo Montoya (2004)
Last five winners:
2010 Sebastian Vettel
2009 Jenson Button
2008 Kimi Raikkonen
2007 Fernando Alonso
2006 Giancarlo Fisichella
Tyre allocation
Prime: Hard
Option: Soft
Top Overtaking spot
The first comer is best because you come out of a very slow hairpin – even slower than the second to last comer if you like – plus the entry to the first corner is more like a hairpin. On the last comer you can take a defensive line without losing time.
Expert’s Tip
The penultimate comer is the hardest and, again, there are a lot of different lines so you have to make a decision about which line to take. The idea is to maximize the entry without compromising your exit. You can do both if you nail it.
