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While normally the time gap between most F1 GP’s is two weeks, the Malaysian GP is scheduled for Friday March 21’st this week itself. So, not much time for the teams to do their testing etc etc, instead they have to pack their bags and head for Malaysia for the Race on the famous Sepang Circuit. The teams  also have to get their cars in shape aerodynamically for the Sepang Circuit before the qualifiers begin on Saturday. So our boys in Force India have their work cut out for them after both their cars going off within 10 laps of the Melbourne GP :) The Malaysian GP with it’s combinations of Long Straights and tight corners is any drivers dream race track. Notice especially the two very long straights in the middle of the track, that is where the Grandstands are. (Seating arrangements for the audience.) So, the fans get to see cars zipping past at speeds above 300 KPH’s and then brake almost to a halt for the tight hairpin turns 01 and 10. (by f1 standards, know that these cars are normally able to take hair pins at more than 60-70 KPH and they take normal bends like 02, 03 and 04 at quite a bit more than 100KPH (Awesome na!?)

 A  hairpin is a corner in a road with a very acute inner angle, making it necessary for an oncoming vehicle to not carry in a lot of speed and turn almost 180º to continue on the road. Note that the two long long straights next to the grandstands are more than a kilometer wide! This is one of the tracks in the F1 Season that is the most demanding on Engines, they have to just go full throttle for about 3-4 km’s through out the track each lap for around 60 laps. That’s no duck walk even for the F1 car engines with all of their high tech cutting edge engineering.

The long straights leading in to tight corners is a classic overtaking opportunity. The car behind can break later by fractions of seconds later thus gaining in on the car ahead, then try and force itself on to the racing line and the car in front off of the Racing Line*. (Of course the car behind should have the pace, stability, grip and downforce to be able to break later or to put it in other words, carry more speed in to a corner than another car.)

*In motorsport, the racing lineis the fastest path a vehicle can take through a specific corner, series of corners, or track. It is an accepted fact that the shortest difference between two points is a straight line. The trick is to be able to take this straight line through the corner at the highest possible speed. If   you are carring to much speed, you won’t make the turn and go off, meanwhile slowing down more than necessary costs you time as well. Also note that the highest possible speed a car can carry through a corner is of course decided by how well it’s aerodynamics are functioning, tyres, wing setup, engine horse power etc. (Image source: www.drivingfast.net)

 So, now that you understand this, you should also be able to grasp why everyone has high expectations from Malaysian GP. Ferrari’s Felipe Massa won the Malaysian GP last year. But after seeing the pace of McLaren’s BMW’s, Ferrari’s themselves and Renault as well (Don’t forget Alonso was able to snatch a 4th position in Australian GP), the chances of Massa doing it again are slim. This time my money is on Hamilton. 

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