Goodbye Malaysia: this weekend's Grand Prix in South East Asia is the 19th and last to be held here. When it made its debut back in 1999, the Sepang circuit was at the cutting edge of a new generation of facilities, all from the pen of Hermann Tilke.
The track features a combination of high speed turns, long straights and hairpins and these are laid out in an elegant setting, the highlights of which are the design of the grandstands and the lighting in the paddock. It is a window on a country which is undergoing extensive socio-economic development, with its citizens coming from three distinct ethnic backgrounds – Malaysian, Chinese and Indian – all living in harmony.
After a disastrous Singapore Grand Prix last time out, Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen is remaining focussed on this weekend's challenge and is ready to give the final Malaysian Grand Prix all he's got….
“It's a new race weekend,” says Kimi, “and our approach is always the same; we'll do our best trying to be one and two at the end. I have good memories from Sepang, as this is where I won my first race in 2003, it was a great day. And I won again for Scuderia Ferrari in 2008, so it's more good memories.”
“The circuit is nice to drive; conditions can be quite extreme in many ways and the track is demanding for both the car and the driver. It can be very hot and then suddenly rain may come, and when it's raining here there's so much water that you cannot drive anymore because of the aquaplaning. It's hard to know what will happen this weekend, but from tomorrow we will understand more. I have the feeling that we should be ok, but who knows. We'll start smoothly and hopefully we can have a good weekend”.
