Formula 1 is about to race a Bahrain Grand Prix not in Bahrain. Malaysia, the country adopting the previously cancelled race, is offering a hot weekend for your favourite drivers – one that Mercedes ace George Russell says will pose an issue when it comes to keeping tyres at their optimum temperature.
Talking in Thursday’s media session, the Briton has warned that the hot temperatures of the Sepang International Circuit will have tyres aggressively overheating to the point where it will make passing much more difficult. This comes as the FIA has declared a heat hazard over the weekend of racing.
Why George Russell thinks Sepang will be a difficult race
Sepang hasn’t hosted an F1 race since 2017, and even after resurfacing work done in September of this year, teams are readying themselves for a rather abrasive track surface that could offer low levels of grip until cars are able to put some proper rubber down over the weekend. But with yo-yo racing also a concern, Russell believes you likely can’t have both at the same time.
“I think the big difference on this circuit compared to other so-called yo-yo circuits is the tyre overheating,” he said. “So circuits such as Melbourne, Silverstone, Monza, there wasn’t actually that much tyre overheating from surface – Canada as well.
“So that kind of allowed the drivers to stay a little bit closer within that one second even in Bahrain, it was quite cool, the drivers could stay close. Whereas here, surface overheating is going to be a huge thing. You’ll be overheating the tyres even on the out lap of a qualifying session, which may make it more challenging to follow closer and to re-attack once you’ve been overtaken, but that’s a total unknown currently.”
George Russell, Mercedes
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri is also wary of high degradation.
“I think [degradation will] be high. It looks like sandpaper out there, so we’ll wait and see, but I definitely think it’s going to be challenging with tyre deg. Obviously I don’t know how much racing or track running there’s been recently. And anything that has been, the rain probably washes it off every afternoon anyway. “So yeah, I think it’s going to be a pretty tough weekend from every angle.
What It Means for Sunday’s Race
Friday’s practice sessions will be very important not only for Mercedes to gauge its level of tyre degradation, but also for its drivers to get accustomed to a track that some of the grid – including Kimi Antonelli – haven’t driven at all. Add in intense heat, high humidity, and even the chance of a bit of rain, and we could have a really interesting race weekend on our hands. With long straights, it could play into Mercedes’ hands if they can control their tyres.
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
– The Motorsport.com Team
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: motorsport.com
