THE MALAYSIAN GP

THE MAIN EVENT

Making its debut in 1999, the Malaysian Grand Prix was a forerunner for the shape of 21st-century F1. It kick-started F1’s Asian diaspora, becoming the first country to secure a grand prix without really having any particular motorsport heritage to hang it off. However, this 19th season of racing on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur will probably be the last – although its legacy will remain.

Sepang has tended to be a circuit that delivers a good race rather than a great one. Traction onto and pace along the two long straights dominate, and the heavy stops into the Turn 1-2 complex and the signature final corner hairpin offer plenty of overtaking opportunities. But Sepang also has variety, with a twisting, high-speed middle sector that prevents it being a tropical Monza.

Add in tyre-wrecking track temperatures above 60°C and binary weather forecasts of rain now or rain later, and Sepang generally provides something to hold the interest.

CLASSIC RACE: 2012

The weather radar doesn’t really work in the tropics. Rather than arriving in clouds or fronts, the rain develops directly over the circuit. You know it’s coming: what you don’t know is when or how much. The 2012 Malaysian Grand Prix was a classic example: not the dull slog on a permanently awash circuit, but a race of variable track conditions with showers real and imagined.

Fernando Alonso won a topsy-turvy race for Ferrari, but the star of the show was Sergio Pérez, negotiating nuanced conditions with confidence, hunting down Alonso and teasing the prospect of a first-ever win for Real Sauber. It didn’t happen… but for a few moments it was nice to dream.

RACE DATA

Circuit name Sepang International Circuit First GP 1999 Number of laps 56 Circuit length 3.444 miles Race distance 192.879 miles Lap record 1m 34.223s Juan Pablo Montoya (2004) F1 races held 18 Winners from pole: 9 Tyres Supersoft, soft, medium

TIMETABLE (UK TIME)

Friday 29 September Practice 1 04:00-05:30 Practice 2 08:00-09:30 Saturday 30 September Practice 3 07:00-08:00 Qualifying 10:00-11:00 Sunday 1 October Race 08:00 Live coverage Channel 4 & Sky Sports F1