Sepang’s special one

Alonso will set unique record in last Malaysian F1 race

FERNANDO Alonso will set a unique record when the Sepang International Circuit (SIC) holds its last Formula 1 race this weekend.

He is the only driver to have raced and won in Sepang with three different teams – Renault in 2005, McLaren in 2007 and Ferrari in 2012.

He began his F1 journey as test driver with Minardi for two years before joining Renault in 2003.

The year 2003 was also the turning point in the Spaniard’s career. He took his first pole at Sepang, becoming the youngest – at 22 – to do so at that time. He also went on to bag his first podium finish by coming in third.

After winning back-to-back World Championships in 2005 and 2006, he left Renault to join McLaren in 2007.

A year later, he returned to Renault. He then moved to Ferrari in 2010 before going back to McLaren in 2015, where he has been since.

The 36-year-old Alonso is looking to soar at Sepang as he considers the circuit “a good place for me”, especially after what happened at the Singapore GP two weeks ago.

In Singapore, he crashed in the first lap. He continued for a few more laps before retiring.

“After Singapore, I’m eager to get back into the car and hopefully make it further than the first corner here in Malaysia!

“What happened in Singapore was disappointing. It’s difficult to hide your frustrations when you’re the victim of someone else’s mistake.

“I felt we had the potential to be really competitive – one of our only opportunities of the year. So, it was a shame we couldn’t bring home the points to prove it, but these things happen,” said Alonso.

Besides the two world championships, Alonso also has 32 career wins and 97 podium finishes.

Alonso, who expects the conditions in Malaysia to be similar to that in Singapore, also feels that the team have everything to fight for with six races left.

“The conditions in Malaysia will be very similar to Singapore – hot, humid and challenging for the drivers and the car. The configuration will work less in our favour, but we will still fight for everything. There are six races left and we are still putting all our energy into finishing every race in the best possible position we can.”

He has not given up thoughts of winning the title in Sepang but hopes that they will be less drama on the circuit.

“Sepang will be more difficult for us in terms of set-up since the straights require good straight-line speed and power. But this track is a mixture of a lot of different characteristics, so we’ll see how much we can make up on the slower-speed corners. I hope we can avoid any drama and have a solid race,” he said.

Alonso’s partner this year is Stoffel Vandoorne and this will be his first race at the Sepang track.

What happened in Singapore was disappointing. It’s difficult to hide your frustrations when you’re the victim of someone else’s mistake.

Fernando Alonso