Engineer's guide to Sepang

The track surface is very abrasive, particularly in comparison to Albert Park, which is very smooth. High speed stability is an essential requirement in Malaysia due to the circuit layout, which contains some long straights and quick direction changes.

E22 set up

Front Wing
The threat of understeer is not as prevalent as in Albert Park so teams can run with slightly less front wing.

Rear Wing
Downforce levels are very similar to the levels in Melbourne.

Suspension
Sepang requires a good all round car. There are high speed straights. There are very high speed change of direction in turns five and six. There are some reasonable traction events with some very low speed tight double hairpin at turn one and turn two. There are no high kerbs so the car can be ran with a lower ride height than otherwise giving better overall downforce.

Brakes
There are four pretty heavy braking zones - into turn one, into turn four, into turn 14, and then into turn 15. High temperatures are not such a threat as there are long straights between the braking events to cool the brakes.

Tyres
Pirelli's medium and hard tyres are used. The track is very demanding on the tyres due to its aggressive surface, heavy braking areas, long straights and wide variety of speeds and corners.

Engine Set Up

(with 1 being the easiest, 5 being the most severe)

Internal combustion engine: 4MGU-K: 3MGU-H: 4Battery: 3Fuel consumption: 5Energy recovery: 4

Sepang is one of the circuits whose technical requirements will change under the new engine regulations. With the turbocharged engines the amount of oxygen available for the ICE will be controlled at all times so the humidity will not pose as much of an issue as in the past, when the high water content reduced the oxygen content available to burn. This means that the two long straights will really punish the ICE this year and as a result Sepang will become a lot less forgiving on engines, with fuel consumption expected to be correspondingly high. The straights will however provide plenty of opportunity for the MGU-H to be recharged while the tight corners such as the T15 hairpin and first corner complex will allow the MGU-K to recover energy under braking. Sepang will therefore be one of the most crucial of the season for energy management.

Guide provided by the Lotus F1 Team