Malaysian weather ‘greatest challenge’ in F1
The race time has at least been brought forward from 5pm to 4pm for this weekend's race outside Kuala Lumpur, after the grand prix last year ended in near-darkness.
But the threat of late afternoon rain, in unbearable humidity and high temperatures, has again been a feature in and around the city so far this week.
Mercedes' Norbert Haug said: "This climate is the greatest challenge for
the teams, cars and drivers."
The same sort of weather is forecast throughout the weekend, although the chance of very heavy rain is mercifully smaller for the decisive qualifying and race sessions on Saturday and Sunday.
03/30/10 The F1 teams move from Australia to Malaysia for this weekend’s race but it looks like they won’t escape the rain.
Scattered thunderstorms are forecast throughout the Malaysian Grand Prix weekend.
As we saw last year and in 2001, these can be heavy enough to stop the race. Last year the combination of a heavy rain storm and the late race start time meant the race couldn’t be completed.
The Malaysian Grand Prix starts one hour earlier than it did last year, which should help it avoid the kind of thunderstorms which are common in the region in the early evening. The race starts at 4pm local time on Sunday, qualifying begins at 5pm the day before.
Along with the chance of rain the teams face the usual Malaysian weather – hot temperatures and punishing humidity. This creates problems for the drivers – who have to keep drinking throughout the race to replenish lost minerals – and the cars, which need extra vents for cooling and may need to keep out of the slipstream of rival cars.
Temperatures are expected to be in the mid-thirties throughout the race weekend.