Round 3 - Sepang International Circuit
Summary
Sunday's race will mark the 12th Malaysian Grand Prix, all held at Hermann Tilke's Sepang International Circuit near Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
The circuit was built with government support and may be considered the first of a subsequent generation of circuits built by Tilke in Asia, free from sponsor restrictions and EU interference. It is characterised by its width, its very long straights and extremely tight switchback Turns 1 and 2. Some earth movement at the venue, built on former marshland, has resulted in some unexpected bumps and undulations appearing, particularly on the uphill approach to Turn 4, but in general there is not much in the way of gradient or camber to bother the drivers.
Initially the race was scheduled at the end of the season, and in 2000 hosted the finale, but since then it has always been the second race on the calendar. The race has often been affected by sudden and unexpected rainfall of monsoon proportions, more so since the move of date to March/April. Last year's race was halted after 31 of the scheduled 56 laps as heavy rain, a series of accidents and descending gloom prevented a restart. This was the first race where half points were awarded since 1991.
As a relatively conventional track, unexpected results have not been common. Ralf Schumacher scored a victory in 2002 from fourth on the grid after Michelin outperformed Bridgestone, but Ferrari had not yet unveiled their devastating F2002 at that stage of the season. Giancarlo Fisichella scored his third and, it would seem, last career victory there in 2006, hanging on as Renault team-mate Fernando Alonso fought up from seventh on the grid to finish a close second. A slightly high mechanical failure rate may be explained by Malaysia being an early-season Grand Prix and teams suffering teething trouble, or by the heat and humidity making cooling marginal.
The overall finishing rate at Sepang is somewhat lower than the average for most circuits.
The likelihood of a driver-related retirement is about average.
Mechnical failures are more likely at Sepang than for most other tracks.
Finally, first lap retirements are consistent with the average for other Grands Prix.
The Last Five Years
[td]Year[/td][td]Starters[/td][td]Finishers[/td][td]Retirements - Mech[/td][td]Retirements - Acc[/td][td]Lap 1 retirements[/td][td]Most places gained[/td]
Circuit Ranking (of all 18 circuits)
Finishing Rate
...
12th Monte Carlo 77%
13th Sepang 75%
14th Interlagos 75%
...
Mechanical Failures
...
5th Hungaroring 15%
6th= Melbourne 13%
6th= Sepang 13%
8th Hockenheim 13%
...
Driver-related Retirements
...
7th Singapore 13%
8th Sepang 12%
9th Silverstone 12%
...
First lap Retirements
...
6th Silverstone 3.8%
7th Sepang 3.8%
8th Hungaroring 2.9%
...
Michael Schumacher has won three Malaysian Grands Prix, while Fernando Alonso has two, with different teams, and could add a third this weekend. Jenson Button is the only other current winner of the event. Rubens Barrichello has shown good form over the years, particularly when it has been wet, while despite Nico Rosberg having only scored 0.5pts, he has qualified in the top six in three of the past four years. Similarly, having achieved two pole positions in 2007 and 2008, Felipe Massa's best result at Sepang is fifth.
Ferrari have been the most successful team at Sepang with five wins from the eleven events held. Renault can also point to a record of success, with three pole positions and two wins. Red Bull have notably struggled to get their cars to the finish at Sepang, and the team have only once managed to get a car onto the front two rows of the grid (Mark Webber with the team then known as Jaguar in 2004).
Current Drivers' Records at Sepang
[td]Driver[/td][td]Starts[/td][td]Finishes[/td][td]Best result[/td][td]Points[/td][td]Retirements - Mech[/td][td]Retirements - Acc[/td][td]Average grid pos.[/td]
Chassis Records at Sepang
[td]Chassis[/td][td]Starts[/td][td]Finishes[/td][td]Best result[/td][td]Points[/td][td]Retirements - Mech[/td][td]Retirements - Acc[/td][td]Average grid pos.[/td]Results for Renault include Benetton
Results for Mercedes GP include BAR, Honda and Brawn
Results for BMW Sauber include Sauber
Results for Red Bull include Stewart and Jaguar
Results for Force India include Jordan, Midland and Spyker
Results for Toro Rosso include Minardi
Engine Records at Sepang
[td]Engine[/td][td]Starts[/td][td]Finishes[/td][td]Best result[/td][td]Points[/td][td]Retirements - Mech[/td][td]Retirements - Acc[/td][td]Average grid pos.[/td]Results for Ferrari include Petronas and Acer
Results for Cosworth include Ford
All ranking figures are expressed as a % of total starts.
"Retirements-Acc" are retirements where the reason has been listed as Collision, Accident or Spun Off.
Summary
Sunday's race will mark the 12th Malaysian Grand Prix, all held at Hermann Tilke's Sepang International Circuit near Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
The circuit was built with government support and may be considered the first of a subsequent generation of circuits built by Tilke in Asia, free from sponsor restrictions and EU interference. It is characterised by its width, its very long straights and extremely tight switchback Turns 1 and 2. Some earth movement at the venue, built on former marshland, has resulted in some unexpected bumps and undulations appearing, particularly on the uphill approach to Turn 4, but in general there is not much in the way of gradient or camber to bother the drivers.
Initially the race was scheduled at the end of the season, and in 2000 hosted the finale, but since then it has always been the second race on the calendar. The race has often been affected by sudden and unexpected rainfall of monsoon proportions, more so since the move of date to March/April. Last year's race was halted after 31 of the scheduled 56 laps as heavy rain, a series of accidents and descending gloom prevented a restart. This was the first race where half points were awarded since 1991.
As a relatively conventional track, unexpected results have not been common. Ralf Schumacher scored a victory in 2002 from fourth on the grid after Michelin outperformed Bridgestone, but Ferrari had not yet unveiled their devastating F2002 at that stage of the season. Giancarlo Fisichella scored his third and, it would seem, last career victory there in 2006, hanging on as Renault team-mate Fernando Alonso fought up from seventh on the grid to finish a close second. A slightly high mechanical failure rate may be explained by Malaysia being an early-season Grand Prix and teams suffering teething trouble, or by the heat and humidity making cooling marginal.
The overall finishing rate at Sepang is somewhat lower than the average for most circuits.
The likelihood of a driver-related retirement is about average.
Mechnical failures are more likely at Sepang than for most other tracks.
Finally, first lap retirements are consistent with the average for other Grands Prix.
The Last Five Years
| 2005 | 20 | 13 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 7 - Nick Heidfeld (Williams) & Juan Pablo Montoya (McLaren) & Christijan Albers (Minardi) |
| 2006 | 22 | 14 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 16 - Felipe Massa (Ferrari) |
| 2007 | 22 | 18 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 11 - Rubens Barrichello (Honda) |
| 2008 | 22 | 17 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 6 - Anthony Davidson (Super Aguri) |
| 2009 | 20 | 18 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 8 - Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber) |
| Overall | 106 | 80 | 14 | 13 | 4 |
Circuit Ranking (of all 18 circuits)
Finishing Rate
...
12th Monte Carlo 77%
13th Sepang 75%
14th Interlagos 75%
...
Mechanical Failures
...
5th Hungaroring 15%
6th= Melbourne 13%
6th= Sepang 13%
8th Hockenheim 13%
...
Driver-related Retirements
...
7th Singapore 13%
8th Sepang 12%
9th Silverstone 12%
...
First lap Retirements
...
6th Silverstone 3.8%
7th Sepang 3.8%
8th Hungaroring 2.9%
...
Michael Schumacher has won three Malaysian Grands Prix, while Fernando Alonso has two, with different teams, and could add a third this weekend. Jenson Button is the only other current winner of the event. Rubens Barrichello has shown good form over the years, particularly when it has been wet, while despite Nico Rosberg having only scored 0.5pts, he has qualified in the top six in three of the past four years. Similarly, having achieved two pole positions in 2007 and 2008, Felipe Massa's best result at Sepang is fifth.
Ferrari have been the most successful team at Sepang with five wins from the eleven events held. Renault can also point to a record of success, with three pole positions and two wins. Red Bull have notably struggled to get their cars to the finish at Sepang, and the team have only once managed to get a car onto the front two rows of the grid (Mark Webber with the team then known as Jaguar in 2004).
Current Drivers' Records at Sepang
| Michael Schumacher | 8 | 8 | 1st (3) | 48 | 0 | 0 | 4.38 |
| Fernando Alonso | 8 | 8 | 1st (2) | 37 | 0 | 0 | 8.38 |
| Rubens Barrichello | 11 | 9 | 2nd (2) | 27 | 2 | 0 | 9 |
| Jarno Trulli | 10 | 9 | 2nd (1) | 25.5 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| Jenson Button | 10 | 8 | 1st (1) | 22 | 2 | 0 | 9.4 |
| Lewis Hamilton | 3 | 3 | 2nd (1) | 13 | 0 | 0 | 8.33 |
| Felipe Massa | 7 | 6 | 5th (2) | 9 | 0 | 1 | 11.14 |
| Robert Kubica | 3 | 2 | 2nd (1) | 8 | 1 | 0 | 5.67 |
| Heikki Kovalainen | 3 | 2 | 3rd (1) | 7 | 0 | 1 | 11 |
| Mark Webber | 8 | 3 | 6th (1) | 3.5 | 3 | 2 | 8.5 |
| Timo Glock | 2 | 1 | 3rd (1) | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6.5 |
| Nico Rosberg | 4 | 2 | 8th (1) | 0.5 | 2 | 0 | 7.25 |
| Pedro de la Rosa | 3 | 1 | 10th (1) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 17 |
| Vitantonio Liuzzi | 2 | 2 | 11th (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14.5 |
| Sebastian Vettel | 2 | 1 | 15th (1) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 14 |
| Sebastien Buemi | 1 | 1 | 16th (1) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 20 |
| Adrian Sutil | 3 | 1 | 17th (1) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 20 |
| Jaime Alguersuari | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Karun Chandhok | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Lucas di Grassi | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Nico Hulkenberg | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Kamui Kobayashi | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Vitaly Petrov | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Bruno Senna | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Chassis Records at Sepang
| Ferrari | 22 | 19 | 1st (5) | 105 | 2 | 1 | 5.32 |
| McLaren | 22 | 15 | 1st (2) | 70 | 5 | 2 | 6.23 |
| Renault | 22 | 19 | 1st (2) | 52 | 2 | 1 | 9.09 |
| Williams | 22 | 13 | 1st (1) | 37.5 | 6 | 3 | 9 |
| BMW Sauber | 22 | 15 | 2nd (2) | 27 | 3 | 4 | 11.14 |
| Mercedes GP | 21 | 13 | 1st (1) | 23 | 8 | 1 | 11.45 |
| Red Bull | 22 | 13 | 4th (1) | 13.5 | 8 | 2 | 10.95 |
| Force India | 22 | 15 | 4th (1) | 4 | 5 | 3 | 14.91 |
| Toro Rosso | 22 | 13 | 9th (1) | 0 | 6 | 5 | 18.27 |
| Hispania | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Lotus | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Virgin | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Results for Mercedes GP include BAR, Honda and Brawn
Results for BMW Sauber include Sauber
Results for Red Bull include Stewart and Jaguar
Results for Force India include Jordan, Midland and Spyker
Results for Toro Rosso include Minardi
Engine Records at Sepang
| Ferrari | 48 | 33 | 1st (5) | 110 | 8 | 8 | 10.63 |
| Mercedes-Benz | 26 | 19 | 1st (3) | 77 | 5 | 3 | 7.04 |
| Renault | 24 | 20 | 1st (2) | 55.5 | 3 | 2 | 9.29 |
| Cosworth | 32 | 17 | 4th (1) | 10 | 11 | 4 | 13.44 |
Results for Cosworth include Ford
All ranking figures are expressed as a % of total starts.
"Retirements-Acc" are retirements where the reason has been listed as Collision, Accident or Spun Off.
Or did I hallucinate that?... 
