MALAYSIAN GRAND PRIX - PREVIEW
Following a short break after the season-opening Australian
Grand Prix, the Honda Racing F1 Team arrived in Kuala Lumpur
at the beginning of this week to begin preparations for Round
Two of the 2007 FIA Formula One World Championship, the Malaysian
Grand Prix in Sepang.
The first official F1 test was held at the Sepang International
Circuit this week as the Honda team continued the development
programme for the RA107 race car in the hot and humid conditions
which make Malaysia one of the toughest and most physically
demanding stops on the F1 calendar.
SHUHEI NAKAMOTO - Senior Technical Director
"At the Sepang test this week we focused our efforts
on evaluating the aerodynamic developments for the RA107 alongside
work on braking stability and general mechanical set-up. Although
we were unable to realise our potential in Australia, we are
confident that the RA107 is fundamentally a good car and expect
to be able to make good technical progress with it in a wide
range of areas. We will use the next few races to improve
to a more competitive level."
JENSON BUTTON
"The Malaysian Grand Prix is a race which has great
significance and memories for me as I scored my first F1 podium
here back in 2004. The Sepang circuit is a very tough track
and the race weekend is hard work for everyone, not just the
drivers behind the wheel, but for the team and the car as
well. The intense heat inevitably focuses our technical concerns
on cooling, particularly as we run for almost seventy per
cent of the lap at full throttle. The humidity is physically
very wearing and you have to spend your time balancing the
need to keep cool with the need to be physically prepared
to deal with the heat during the race. In the build-up to
the weekend, I'll be training outside as much as possible
to acclimatise and spending last week here for the test has
also helped with that process.
Sepang has some great opportunities for overtaking. Turn
one is a good chance, along with the right hander at Langkawi
and the left hander at Berjaya Tioman. For a really quick
lap, you need a car which is aerodynamically sound but with
the least drag possible. Too much front end grip will lose
you a lot of time in turns five and six."
RUBENS BARRICHELLO ON THE SEPANG INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT
"The Sepang International Circuit is one that the drivers
really enjoy. When you go past your pit board on the start
/ finish straight, you are at 250kph and about to reach 300kph
before the braking zone at the end of the straight. Turn one
is a very slow corner taken in first or second gear depending
on your gear ratios. You will see plenty of action here in
the race because it is a very wide track but quite tight for
the racing line so the drivers go all over the track trying
to overtake.
Turn one leads into another tight left-hand corner taken
in second gear, power down and then a long right-hander at
turn three which is about two and a half Gs. When you come
out of turn three, it is flat up through the gears to seventh
reaching around 270kph before the next braking zone into the
right-handed turn four, taken in second or third gear depending
on the ratios. It's not a difficult corner although braking
can be tricky because of the bumps. Out of there and you're
into a lovely left and right at turns five and six which are
done very quickly in fifth gear. It's really demanding around
this section as the Gs force your neck from one side to the
other. We used to be almost flat through here but perhaps
not this year with the different spec tyres.
You then have a small straight before the two apex corners
at turns seven and eight. You have to come in quite fast,
wide and then tight and an understeering car could cause you
some problems. Then you're onto the first back straight going
into the hairpin at turn nine in first gear. It's important
to have good traction out of here as it goes straightaway
to the right and turn ten which is not really a big corner
but leads you into turn eleven, another right-hander taken
in third gear at around 130kph. Then another straight and
a fast left-hander at turn twelve taken flat out in sixth
gear at 250kph.
Turn thirteen leads you into the tight turn fourteen and
onto the long back straight, a good place for overtaking.
The final corner at turn fifteen is another overtaking opportunity,
a second gear corner which brings you onto the start / finish
straight and over the line for the end of your lap."
SEPANG INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT, MALAYSIA
Race Distance 56 laps
Circuit Length 3.444 miles (5.543 kms)
Designed by Hermann Tilke, the Sepang International Circuit
is a visually dramatic and beautifully equipped facility which
has been given much praise by teams and drivers alike since
joining the FIA Formula One World Championship in 1999.
The demanding 15-turn, 5.543km track features a pair of parallel
straights plus a combination of low and medium-speed corners
that really test the drivers. The surface is wide and smooth
with overtaking most likely to occur under braking for the
tight corners at the end of each straight. Sepang is regarded
as one of the most physically demanding tracks on the F1 calendar
with the extremely high levels of humidity making the race
particularly demanding.
The Sepang circuit also provides wonderful spectator facilities,
including a unique "double-sided" 30,000 seat grandstand
with an unusual roof in the shape of a hibiscus - the national
flower of Malaysia.
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