SEPANG: There is a high chance of rain at the Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday.
In the opening leg in Australia two weeks ago, Mercedes were dominant on a dry track with Lewis Hamilton a runaway winner and team-mate Nico Rosberg second.
There was no rain-tyre testing during the off-season. And if it rains on race day, it will make for an interesting outcome.
Pirelli chief Paul Hembery is keeping his fingers crossed heavy rain does not fall in the early stages of the race.
Pirelli are the official tyre supplier this season.
“There have been no rain testing of tyres. If we had that, Pirelli would have had more opportunity to perfect the wet weather designs to allow the drivers to get used to the tyres,” said Hembery, adding that managing the tyres carefully would be the key to success in Sepang.
“Wear and degradation is traditionally very high in Sepang … The Malaysian GP is the toughest challenge on the F1 calendar,” he said.
McLaren driver Jenson Button has experience driving in all weather conditions in Sepang. He said the unpredictable weather “is what makes the race interesting”.
He won on a wet track in 2009 for Brawn GP and went on to lift the world drivers’ title.
“Malaysia will be another tricky step in the learning process for us. It is often an unpredictable race and the extreme temperatures will test our car and tyres to the limits.
“With the possibility of rain added to the mix, it will be interesting to see how our car behaves in changeable conditions,” said Button, who finished 11th in Australia.
Williams driver Felipe Massa, who finished fourth behind Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull in the season-opener, believes all the drivers are ready for the challenging conditions.
“Malaysia is not just hot and humid, the rain is also an issue. It always rains during race day, but we are prepared for it,” said the Brazilian.
Mercedes’ Rosberg said the weather can change extremely quickly in Sepang.
“We may see our first running on full wet tyres this weekend although bringing the start time forward by one hour may help avoid the regular late afternoon storms,” said the German.
Keyword: Rain can change race dynamics at Malaysia F1