Haas F1 Team‘s Romain Grosjean believes that the upcoming Malaysian Grand Prix will be the toughest race on the calendar.
The Frenchman thinks that this weekend’s race is typically even harder than the Singapore Grand Prix, which is notoriously humid and challenging for the drivers.
The Sepang International Circuit is often host to races with changeable conditions, but typically the races are as hot as in Singapore – but the drivers aren’t granted the respite of the night race.
“Singapore was tough, but it wasn’t too tough,” commented Grosjean.
“Malaysia will be physically harder, but we’re going to get more cooling inside the car because of the longer straights. I’m not worried.
“It is because of that and because there are more fast corners. Fast corners are where you get the big g-force, and that’s what we have to fight inside the car.”
“It starts to really rain heavily on one part of the circuit – you can be on slicks with everything going well then all of a sudden it’s wet. We know it’s tropical conditions and that it can happen on any day. You just need to get the wet tires on and go.”
However, Grosjean still enjoys the race despite the physical challenges it poses.
“I think it’s pretty much the hardest race of the year. Singapore is a slower track with slower corners, whereas Malaysia has high speed with high loads. Again, it’s a great challenge, a great track, and when you have a good car, it’s an amazing experience.
“There are some big straight lines with good top speed, and then some big braking zones. It’s a track with high tire degradation. Overtaking is really good fun at Sepang.
“I’ve always loved the track. It’s been my favourite track for a very long time. I just love the layout. There’s no one particular race that I remember significantly, except maybe (Fernando) Alonso’s race when he won and couldn’t stand on the podium because he was completely dehydrated. For me, I just love the track.”
