Method 1 drivers are eagerly awaiting this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia and the game’s return to Sepang after a nine-year absence.
The circuit hosted the Malaysian Grand Prix 19 instances between 1999 and the newest occasion in 2017. The primary of a brand new era of everlasting venues – adopted by the likes of Bahrain, Shanghai, Istanbul and Abu Dhabi amongst others – on the time, the monitor set new requirements by way of services.
It all the time produced good racing, with drivers having fun with its flowing format and overtaking alternatives. Climate all the time performed an element, with the new and humid situations making it a troublesome problem for the drivers, whereas rain was all the time a chance.
And that provides an additional dimension to this occasion on condition that we now have made it to Spherical 16 and nonetheless not seen a totally moist session in 2026, by no means thoughts a race.
Regardless of the monitor’s lengthy absence from the calendar, 10 of the drivers on the present grid have raced at Sepang, particularly Fernando Alonso (first begin in 2001), Lewis Hamilton (2007), Nico Hulkenberg (2010), Sergio Perez (2011), Valtteri Bottas (2013), Carlos Sainz (2015), Max Verstappen (2015), Esteban Ocon (2016), Pierre Gasly (2017) and Lance Stroll (2017).
None of them know Sepang in addition to Alonso, who gained in 2005 with Renault, in 2007 with McLaren, and in 2012 with Ferrari. Given his good file there, it’s maybe not stunning that the Aston Martin driver is eager to return.
“Yeah, I’m trying ahead,” he stated. “I did not assume that I’ll race in Malaysia once more, in order that’s a golden ticket that I take. An unbelievable circuit, demanding race, temperature, humidity – like Singapore, however in daytime.
“So it is going to be additionally an excellent take a look at for drivers, and yeah, trying ahead. I believe from the remaining races, in all probability Sepang is the nicest monitor. So let’s examine.”
Hamilton completed second to Alonso in what was his second ever F1 begin in 2007, and he went on to win the race in 2014.
He has additionally spent extra time in Kuala Lumpur than his fellow drivers because of his lengthy relationship with Mercedes title sponsor Petronas.
“I all the time cherished going to KL had a number of nice experiences there with my earlier workforce,” he stated. “And the monitor is superior. And it is a monitor that does give good racing.
“So I very a lot welcome it, I am trying ahead to it. It is a super-hot circuit. It’s going to be one which’s bodily massively demanding, so I stay up for that problem.”
Hamilton confused that the bodily facet is a vital a part of being an F1 driver.
“That is alleged to be the game that is essentially the most bodily demanding, mentally and bodily,” he stated. “And there are some which are simply so sizzling, and finally you’re on the sting. Like Singapore is extremely sizzling and demanding.
“Malaysia might be loopy this yr, however that is the place I believe you wish to see athletes good on the fringe of their efficiency, having to truly push their our bodies additional. As a result of that is what this sport is about – pushing the degrees, and pushing the boundaries.”
The opposite previous Sepang winner within the present area is Verstappen, who triumphed in 2017. So is the Purple Bull driver trying ahead to going again?
“Truly not, as a result of I used to be truly fairly comfortable that I gained the ultimate one there!” he joked. “No, I believe it is a fantastic monitor. I actually take pleasure in being there. It’s extremely powerful I believe simply from the warmth already, but in addition degradation might be actually powerful on the tyres. So yeah, it is a good place. So excited to return and see we are able to do there.”
So what of the 12 drivers who’ve but to race at Sepang? They’ve all been busy in manufacturing unit simulators, however one among them has a bit of extra expertise than the others.
“Malaysia, I am excited for,” stated Lando Norris. “It is one I’ve seen many races on after I was youthful, and rising up. And truly, I bear in mind I did sim help for Fernando and Stoffel [Vandoorne] after they raced there a few years in the past.
“So I bear in mind going into the manufacturing unit at midnight or no matter silly time it was, and driving until 7am simply to help the blokes. So it is not fully new to me, but it surely’ll be a primary time going to the circuit itself, which is thrilling.”
For everybody else, Sepang is a monitor that they know solely from watching previous races on TV and their current simulator runs.
“I believe it is all the time very good as a driver to find a brand new monitor,” stated World Championship chief Kimi Antonelli. “I’ve executed it on the sim, and it appears to be like like a fairly cool monitor.
“Very quick, flowing, lengthy corners, not straightforward, particularly to place the lap collectively. I believe it may be very attention-grabbing as nicely with tyre degradation. We’d see two, three stops, as a result of tyre deg goes to be large.
“However one other query mark goes to be the climate. I’ve seen the forecast, and it appears to rain fairly closely at a selected time of the day. So there’s going to be quite a lot of unknowns. Clearly, it may be very, very popular. It will be an excellent problem – and I’m trying ahead to it.”
