Malaysia Grand Prix Preview – With McLaren
Another race weekend is on the way and after an exciting yet surprising Singapore Grand Prix, we’re now making our way to Malaysia for the Malaysian Grand Prix.
Thanks to McLaren – here you can see the lowdown about the circuit and of course interviews with both Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne ahead of the Malaysian Grand Prix.
Lowdown – Malaysia Grand Prix Preview
Race Title – 2017 Formula 1 Petronas Malaysia Grand Prix
Circuit Name – Sepang International Circuit
First Race – 1999
Previous Winners
2016 – Daniel Ricciardo
2015 – Sebastian Vettel
2014 – Lewis Hamilton
History – Malaysia Grand Prix Preview
Malaysia has had a long and fruitful association with Formula 1. It began in the late 90’s when the Sepang International Circuit was constructed on agricultural land near Kuala Lumper International Airport and has since been a regular fix on the F1 Calendar.
The track was the first to be designed and built by architect Hermann Tilke, whose influence extends to 10 circuits on this year’s calendar.
Travel – Malaysia Grand Prix Preview
City – Kuala Lumpur
Population – 1.65 million
How Far? Kuala Lumper is 10,600km (6587 miles) from the McLaren technology centre.
Getting There – All of the Formula 1 freight has made the 300-mile trip from Singapore to Kuala Lumper by road. However, the two-week gap between races has meant that all team personnel have flown back to the UK for a week and will begin travelling to Malaysia during the start of the race week.
Local Speciality – Malaysia is the street food capital of Asia. Hawker stalls are found everywhere and offer everything from samosas to spicy noodle curry and cendol – a desert made from sweet grass jelly and coconut milk.
Track and Race – Malaysia Grand Prix Preview
Track Length – 5.543km / 3.444 miles. Eighth longest track of the year.
2016 Pole Position – Lewis Hamilton
2016 Fastest Lap – Nico Rosberg
Lap Record – Juan Pablo Montoya (2004)
Top Speed – 330km/h/205mph
ERS Demands – Medium.
Gear Changes – 57 per lap or 3192 per race.
Laps – 56
Grid Advantage – The racing line is on the left and that’s where the grip lies at the start. However, there’s a rainstorm on most evenings so there’s a chance that the grid will be washed clean before the start negating any grid advantage.
DRS – There are 2 DRS zones – on the approaches to Turn 1 and Turn 15.
Driver Interviews – Malaysia Grand Prix
Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso – “After Singapore, I’m already eager to get back into the car and hopefully make it further than the first corner in Malaysia.”
“Of course, what happened was disappointing and it’s difficult to hide your frustration when you’re the victim of someone else’s incident. I felt like we had the potential to be really competitive – one of our only opportunities of the year and it’s a shame that we couldn’t bring home the points to prove it.”
“The conditions in Malaysia will be very similar to Singapore – very hot, humid and challenging for the drivers and the car.”
“The configuration will work a lot less in our favour but of course we will still fight for everything – there are six races left and we are still putting our energy in finished every race in the best possible position that we can.”
“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 will see how much we can make up on the slower-speed corners.”
“The 2018 cars will definitely be fasted through there and it will be fun to experience and I hope that we can avoid any drama and have a solid race.”
Stoffel Vandoorne
Stoffel Vandoorne – “After Singapore, I’m looking forward to heading to Malaysia on the back of a positive weekend on my side of the garage.”
“I felt strong all weekend and we were able to put in consistent performances in every session, it’s just a shame that we couldn’t score any points with both cars as we all felt that it was really deserved.”
“Fernando was unlucky but we now head to Kuala Lumper with a bit more confidence and the objective of keeping this momentum going.”
“Like in Singapore, Malaysia will be a first for me as I’ve never raced there before. It’s a shame it’ll be the last time we’ll be racing there for a while but that’s all the more reason to make the most of it.”
“It looks like it’s a pretty cool track – challenging and similar conditions to Singapore but hopefully we will have the potential to show what our car can do.”
“It won’t suit us in the same way as Singapore did so we still need to be cautious about what’s possible but having watched races there in the past – there’s always some kind of drama and the risk of a shower – or two.”
“We’ll have our fingers crossed for an opportunity for us to mix it with cars a little bit further up the field.”
There’s lots more to come ahead of the Malaysian Grand Prix so make sure you keep checking back for the latest.
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Information from McLaren