After the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on Sunday, the second encircling on the 2013 Formula One calendar, the 56-lap Malaysian Grand Prix, is just days left. Here’s a sample of what to imagine.
The Sepang International Circuit, situated just 50 miles from the center of Malaysia's capital, Kuala Lumpur, is observe as one of the most imposing race tracks in the world. Designed by renowned track designer Hermann Tilke, Sepang released in 1999 and hosted its first Formula One race the same year.
The 15-turn, 3.44-mile clockwise track is extremely technical, possibly the most technical on the F1 calendar. Sepang has two long back-to-back straights associated by a “hard on the brakes” hairpin at the cavity entrance. The circuit also offers intricate turn combinations, sweeping high-speed corners, and a track girth favorable to overtaking.
Sepang’s Turn 1 is a tapered, constant-radius right-hand “carousel” followed instantly by a tight left-hander that leads onto a long right-hand sweeper. Getting the first two bend right is vital as drivers set up for an exit that allows receiving the power down as rapidly as probable in the run up through the sweeping third turn. The end of the front straight important into this sequence of turns is also an overtaking area.
The Turn 15 hairpin, which sits between the identical, almost equivalent final and front straights, is a significant corner for setting up the run down the front directly. It is common to see brakes locked and flat-spotted rubber here as drivers dive within and endeavor to overtake by late-braking.