Another big weekend for the Marussia F1 Team. Next stop the Malaysian Grand Prix!

The Marussia F1 Team went straight from Melbourne to the Sepang Circuit in Malaysia in preparation of this weekend’s GP. Everyone is still feeling the positive affects of the Australian debut of the Marussa F1 MR01 and are looking forward to putting the new car through its paces.

John Booth, Team principal of the Marussia F1 Team, had this to say about Marussia’s preparation before the start of the weekend: “We’ve had another very positive day with the MR01 and this is exactly the start we were looking for from the weekend. We’ve been able to maximise our programme, which means the engineers have plenty of positive homework to do this evening to ensure we keep moving in the right direction. We also evaluated some new rear floor parts this morning with Timo, which he carried through into the afternoon to good effect. Both drivers will now have the benefit of these parts tomorrow. It’s good to see us maintaining the reliability as we can now be confident that the basis of the car is good and turn our minds more towards developing it. It has been a very tough day for the team. The positives of completing a challenging programme with good reliability means the mechanics have been pushed to the max in very trying conditions, but as ever it’s a challenge they have coped with admirably.”

Challenges

• Malaysia is one of the biggest challenges that we will face all year, and that is simply down to the nature of the track and the weather. We can expect track temperatures of up to around 50 degrees centigrade.
• Sepang is more ‘representative’ of a racing circuit and for that reason it will provide a better opportunity to evaluate the package. The track layout is not dissimilar to Barcelona, a favoured testing venue, since it gives many clues about the characteristics and strengths of a new car.
• The high-speed nature of the track presents us with high G loads, which in turn provide a good test of the steering and suspension systems.
• The high temperatures provide a tough test of the cooling systems on the car, particularly water, oil, gearbox and the electrical boxes.
• Although the surface in Malaysia offers plenty of grip, any rubber laid down on the track is frequently washed away by the heavy rain that falls most days, making the track ‘green’ at the start of each session.

Some Facts About This Weekend’s Race

- Some fast facts to further whet your appetite: – The 5.543km Sepang circuit is one of the most technical circuits on the calendar. The combination of long high-speed straights and tight, twisting complexes make the circuit very complicated indeed, but perfect for overtaking as the track is very wide.
- The run from pole to the apex of turn one is 660 metres long, the second longest of the season after Barcelona.
- Half of the last 10 races here have been won from pole; the highest winning grid position was P7, in 2003.
- The last 10 Malaysian Grands Prix have featured no official Safety Car deployments (2009 is not considered as it officially ran to only 31 laps).
- Additional PR activities will see Timo providing Sky Sports F1 with a tour through the market in Petaling Street and later that night he and Charles will meet the country’s new King & Queen.