After what was an extraordinary weekend last week in Australia, the teams head north-west for the second round of the championship at the Sepang circuit, just outside Kuala Lumpar in Malaysia.

The circuit made it's F1 debut in 1999 after funding by the Malaysian government, and has proved to be a popular addition to F1. It became the benchmark for F1 in terms of facilities for both the F1 personnel and fans—so much so that following the inaugural race there the teams felt the facilities at the following round in Suzuka were cramped despite being classed as one of the biggest in F1!

The pitlane length and profile (i.e. corners in the pitlane entry) contribute to the determination of the optimum fuel strategy. The pitlane loss at Sepang is approximately 22 seconds, the fifth most penalising pitlane in the Championship.

To complete a normalised distance of 5km around the Sepang circuit requires 2.38kg of fuel against an average of 2.42kg per 5km across all circuits this season, making the circuit the fifth least demanding track of the year in terms of fuel consumption.

As for the track itself, it is mostly a mix of medium and high speed corners. While there are tight corners which require good traction, two fast chicanes and long sweeping corners dominate the circuit's character. It is also very wide, reaching 20 meters at it's widest point, so plenty of room for overtaking.

And, unlike Melbourne, the circuit is used regularly all year round to events like MotoGP (racing and testing), Formula Nippon, GP2 Asia and various national formulae. Let's take a closer look at the circuit now and see where time can be gained and lost

Turns 1 and 2

Like Melbourne, the first two turns can be counted as one. The drivers approach the first corner at 190mph and brake heavy into a long, sweeping but tight first turn. Over the years we have seen some incidents at this turn—most notably the clash between Michael Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya back in 2002. But it's at Turn 2 where most of the dramas have happened. From Turn 1 it's a small swirt of the throttle before braking into Turn 2, which is a tight, second gear left-hander. During the first race here we had two notable events with different outcomes—Pedro Diniz and Damon Hill collided on the first lap, then David Coulthard defied convention and passed Michael Schumacher with an ambitious move. Schumacher was also involved in another incident in 2003, nudging Jarno Trulli into a spin and receiving a penalty for his troubles. Traction coming out of the turn is very important as this will determine the speed right down to Turn 4.

Turns 3 and 4

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