Track: Sepang International Circuit
Number of Laps: 56
Circuit Length: 3.4 miles (5.5km)
Race Length: 192.9 miles (310.4km)
Start Time: 8:00 BST
Fastest Lap: 1:33.074 (Michael Schumacher, Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, 2004, Qualifying)
Fastest Race Lap: 1:34.223 (Juan Pablo Montoya, Williams-BMW, 2004)
2015 Pole Position: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG Petronas, 1:49.834, Intermediate Tyres
2015 Race Winner: Sebastian Vettel, Scuderia Ferrari
Tyre Compounds: Soft, Medium, Hard, Intermediate, Wet
First F1 Championship Grand Prix: 1999
Most Wins: Sebastian Vettel (4), Ferrari (7)
Formula One’s busy October kicks off this weekend at Malaysia – which is in a later slot on the calendar than we’ve been used to over recent years.
Nico Rosberg reclaimed the championship lead last time out in Singapore, but he is only eight points ahead of Lewis Hamilton in the standings. Their team, meanwhile, could wrap up the constructors’ pot on Sunday. Red Bull need to score at least eight points more than Mercedes to prevent the Brackley-based team from taking a third straight Constructors’ title.
Both Red Bull and the Silver Arrows will, however, have to watch their backs this weekend. Sebastian Vettel has won four of the last six races here in Malaysia – the best record of any driver in Sepang. Ferrari, meanwhile, hold a record seven wins in Malaysia – including Formula One’s previous visit here last year.
Red Bull’s straight line speed deficit is likely to hurt them on the two long straights, meaning Ferrari are expected to be best of the rest behind Mercedes.
Should the race stay dry, which is by no means a guarantee in Malaysia, tyre strategy will be crucial on the high degradation circuit – especially this year as several parts of the track have been re-profiled. Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen have an extra set of hard tyres available over their teammates, meaning that they sacrificed a set of the medium compound. Interestingly, Red Bull have joined Manor in only bringing six sets of soft tyres to the race. This could hint to a plan of starting the race on the medium tyre, as they will have one less set of soft tyres to run in Q2.
The Toro Rosso drivers only have two sets of medium tyres each, with the Italian based team bringing eight sets of soft tyres each – more than any other outfit.
Of course, all of this strategy could come to nothing should the rain fall in Sepang. It is impossible to predict the weather for this race, so let’s hope it brings some unpredictability to the Grand Prix.
