Haas driver Esteban Gutierrez says the best way to prepare for the unpredictable weather often encountered at the Malaysian Grand Prix venue is to stay “very open” and “very flexible”.
The Sepang contest might have been moved from April to October, F1 teams still expect rainy conditions to come into play in round 16 of this year’s world championship with downpours threatening to disrupt the event almost on a daily basis.
“There isn’t a lot you can do to prepare for that,” Gutierrez admits. “You just have to be very open and very flexible, because it can rain any time.
“You do need to be able to anticipate a little bit when you know rain is coming just so you can get the most from the track conditions that are available. It makes Malaysia pretty special because when the rain comes, it’s usually in a big thunderstorm.”
And if it’s not the monsoon, then hot temperatures are sure to present drivers with a physical challenge nearly as sizeable as the recent Singapore Grand Prix.
“You have the same level of humidity in Malaysia, but everything happens during the day, so it’s really hot. At the same time, it’s not a street circuit like Singapore. It’s much more flowing, with long straights where you have a bit of time to recover.
“It’s a physical race, but not more than Singapore. Malaysia is a different track. Still demanding, but more flowing. That’s always been the case and even with all the changes, I don’t expect it to be too different.”
The Sepang International Circuit has indeed been given a major overhaul ahead of this year’s F1 visit, with a complete resurfacing of the track and several corners being re-profiled.
“We’ve experienced new tracks before like Baku, and Budapest and Austria as well, which were completely resurfaced. Now comes Malaysia, so I don’t expect it to be too complicated.
“It’s always nice to have change in the track, so I’m really keen to get to know it. Hopefully the grip is going to be very high, because when the grip is high, it’s much more fun to drive.”
Chris Medland's 2016 Malaysian Grand Prix preview
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