'It's going to be completely different' – Drivers reflect on the key challenge they expect in Sepang

For half of the Formula 1 grid, Thursday was a first chance to take a proper look at a Sepang track that they’ve previously only seen on TV or experienced in factory simulators, and for the rest it was a chance to refamiliarise themselves with a venue that they last sampled nine years ago.

One thing came as no surprise to either track rookies or veterans though. Sepang has always been noted for a rough surface that gives tyres a hard time and, if anything, as the years have gone by it has become even more abrasive.

Managing tyre degradation will thus be a big story of the weekend for all, with two or three pit stops looking likely.

That’s good news for fans, for whom strategic variety can spice up races. It also makes life more interesting for the drivers, who generally not only enjoy the challenge of managing degradation but obviously want to seek a competitive advantage through car set-up or driving style.

“Maybe finally we see some deg because it's been a few weekends now in a row where there's been zero deg,” said Carlos Sainz. “And it makes the racing a bit less driver dependent. It's just about pushing flat out, and the car you have, you cannot manipulate the strategy or anything. So I wouldn't mind seeing a bit of deg.”

“I think it'll be high,” Oscar Piastri commented when asked about the subject. “It looks like sandpaper out there! So yeah, 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. I think it's going to be a pretty tough weekend, from every angle.”

World Championship leader Kimi Antonelli also anticipates that looking after tyres – in Qualifying and race trim – will be the big challenge.

“It's going to be completely different to what we had in these three races after the summer break because they were all new tarmac, no deg,” said the Mercedes driver. “Baku was a funny one, because the more you pushed, the better it was for the tyres, so this one is going to be completely different.

“I just did the track walk, and it's the roughest track tarmac that I've seen. Probably it’s similar to Bahrain in some places, maybe even more. So it might be a scenario where we see two, three stops in the race, also because it's so hot. So it's going to be interesting, but definitely very different driving, very different approach, because it's not only about long runs.

“It's going to be also about single lap, trying to extract the maximum grip over one lap, because tyres are not going be happy, especially when you come to Sector 3. They're going to be screaming quite a lot…

“It's going to be a new challenge, different to what we've been used to, and also practice I think you're going to have limited laps, especially when you try Quali simulation. So it's going to be important to be on top of it straight away.”

With its long straights, teams are expecting Sepang to provide lots of overtaking.

However, Antonelli’s team mate George Russell made an interesting observation on how the tyres might impact that.

“I think the big difference on this circuit compared to other so-called 'yo-yo' circuits is the tyre overheating,” he said. “Circuits such as Melbourne, Silverstone, Monza, there wasn't actually that much tyre overheating from the surface. Canada as well.

"That kind of allowed the drivers to stay a little bit closer, within that one second. Even in Baku 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.”

The other big talking point is the high likelihood of rain at some stage during the weekend, with a deluge on Wednesday afternoon providing the paddock with an early taste of what to expect.

Sepang is Round 16 of the World Championship, and yet we have still not seen a properly wet official session.

Many teams and drivers have little or no proper experience of running the 2026 cars in wet conditions, although some – notably Ferrari and Red Bull – have undertaken Pirelli testing.

“I've not driven in the wet in this car, so it is still a completely new experience for us,” said Lando Norris. “Obviously, things have improved a lot since the beginning of the year, which makes some of the concerns less. But it's still a new experience, so that's something we have to be ready for, and prepare for.”

It’s not just a question of tyres – it’s also about how to manage the PUs in the wet, and dealing with power delivery, especially in changeable conditions.

“It’s a good test for sure, if it rains,” said Sainz. “I think with all the issues we have with downshifts, with harvesting, power variability corner to corner, the wet is going to be a challenge for sure, both from a tyre standpoint – from what I heard, this year's wet tyre and inter tyre is quite a difficult tyre from people that have run it – plus the power unit factor. So it will be for sure a good test.”

You might think that, with the title in his sights, the last thing Antonelli needs is rain, given the potential lottery that it might create. However, he welcomes the chance to drive the W17 in wet conditions.

“It would be very interesting,” he noted. “On one side, it would be nice to do a few laps on the wet because to be fair, this year we've been so lucky with rain. We have avoided rain so many times, and we've been lucky for sure.

“I think it would be time to just do some laps in the rain, even in practice, just to see how it feels, how the tyre feels, how the power unit feels, how the car feels. Most of us have such little information on or experience on wets. So it will be interesting.”

Antonelli makes the intriguing point that the Sepang asphalt will actually be helpful in wet conditions, because the water drains away.

In addition, the rough surface – together with the high ambient – should help to address the temperature issues that drivers who have run the latest wets have highlighted.

“I think this track will be quite okay in the wet,” said Antonelli. “It always depends by how much it rains, because here it's very well known to be raining very much, and a good amount. But because the surface is so open, there's actually not a lot of standing water, unless it pours down.

“But if it rains normally, then it will be probably the best track to try these cars for the first time in the rain, because the tarmac is so open that the water just doesn't sit on top of the surface.

"It actually goes in-between the stones – so it makes less risk of aquaplaning and all this kind of stuff.”