Round sixteen of the season sees Formula One head to Sepang for the Malaysia Grand Prix. The circuit was built in the 1990’s with the first race in 1999. This race used to be held across in Singapore but after independence the country they had to wait years for Formula One to arrive for the race to return.
Sepang is a circuit with long straights and fast flowing corners but there are difficult ones. Like the S at Turn One and Two which sees cars all get very close making overtaking difficult. The long straight give good opportunities to overtake and will play to the hands of Mercedes because there be able to pull away.
The circuit has had a few changes most notably the last corner and new kerbs have been put in. as well as giving drivers more room at Turn Two. The circuit has also been resurfaced for the first time since opening in 1999. But this has had time to bed in with the circuit being used more than other venues in Asia.
Facts and figures
| Race | 2016 FORMULA 1 PETRONAS MALAYSIA GRAND PRIX |
| Venue | Sepang International Circuit, Sepang, Selangor, Malaysia |
| Circuit Length | 5.543 km (3.445 mi) |
| Laps | 56 |
| Race Distance | 310.408 km (192.878 mi) |
| Lap Record | 1:34.223 (Juan Pablo Montoya, Williams, 2004) |
| Most wins drivers | John MacDonald (4)
Sebastian Vettel (4) |
| Most wins manufacture | Ferrari (7) |
Event timetable
| Local | BST | |
| Friday | ||
| P1 | 10:00 | 05:00-06:30 |
| P2 | 14:00-15:30 | 09:00-10:30 |
| Saturday | ||
| P3 | 14:00-15:00 | 04:00-05:00 |
| Qualifying | 17:00-18:00 | 10:00-11:00 |
| Sunday | ||
| Race | 15:00-17:00 | 08:00-10:00 |
What happened in 2015?
Sebastian Vettel gave hope to many that last season would be a fight between Ferrari and Mercedes after fighting with Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton in the middle of the race to take victory. This was after both Mercedes were caught in traffic in the pit stop phase of the race.
It was a messy start after Kimi Raikkonen got a puncher following a messy start spreading the remains of the tyre following contact with Sauber’s Felipe Nasr. The incident brought out the safety car so the teams could do their first pit stops.
2015 vs 2014 Race Data
| P1 Fastest | P2 Fastest | P3 Fastest | Q1 Fastest | Q2 Fastest | Q3 Fastest | Race Time | Fastest Lap | |
| 2015 | 01:40.124 | 01:39.790 | 01:39.690 | 01:39.269 | 01:39.377 | 01:49.834 | 01:41:05.793 | 01:49.062 |
| -0.573 | -0.299 | -0.672 | -18.086 | -20.336 | -10.403 | +20.821 | -5.996 | |
| 2014 | 01:40.691 | 01:39.909 | 01:39.008 | 01:57.183 | 01:59.041 | 01:59.431 | 01:40:25.974 | 01:43.066 |
Tyres
| Driver | Soft | Medium | Hard (prime) |
| HAMILTON | 7 | 3 | 3 |
| ROSBERG | 7 | 4 | 2 |
| VETTEL | 7 | 3 | 3 |
| RAIKKONEN | 7 | 4 | 2 |
| BOTTAS | 7 | 4 | 2 |
| MASSA | 7 | 3 | 3 |
| RICCARDO | 6 | 4 | 3 |
| VERSTAPPEN | 6 | 4 | 3 |
| MAGNUSSEN | 7 | 3 | 3 |
| PLAMER | 7 | 2 | 4 |
| HULKENBERG | 7 | 3 | 3 |
| PEREZ | 7 | 3 | 3 |
| KYVAT | 8 | 2 | 3 |
| SAINZ | 8 | 2 | 3 |
| BUTTON | 7 | 3 | 3 |
| ALONSO | 7 | 3 | 2 |
| ERICSSON | 7 | 4 | 2 |
| NASR | 7 | 4 | 2 |
| WEHRLIN | 6 | 4 | 3 |
| OCON | 6 | 4 | 3 |
| GROSJEAN | 7 | 4 | 2 |
| GUTIERREZ | 7 | 3 | 3 |
