So where do we go from here? Sepang Malaysia of course. This weekend is the Malaysian Grand Prix, a sort of home race for BMW Sauber considering it is where their premium partner Petronas is located and a favorite of the team. A lot of information was gathered from Australia, the first is that Brawn GP won’t be easy in the short term at least, second is that I think BMW Sauber have proven that they are fast and capable running up front, and that tire wear with the slicks is much greater than with the grooved tires and the softer compound won’t last long.

Sepang circuit has a lot of high speed turns and a couple heavy breaking zones right after long straights and that is always hard on tires. Bridgestone will be bringing medium and soft tire compounds to Malaysia instead of the soft and super soft used in Australia. We saw just how fast the softer of the two go away toward the end of the Australian Grand Prix when Robert Kubica on the harder tire was eating the two leaders up. You can bet this will be another issue in Malaysia so strategy as to when to use the soft tires is going to be crucial.

Robert Kubica

2008 Qualifying – 4th, 2008 Race – 2nd

“The Malaysian Grand Prix is always something very special, as it is like a home race for us because of Petronas. We have a lot of fans in Malaysia and it is really a special feeling to drive there. The race went extremely well for me last year. Of course I hope that we can get a strong result again this time around. I’m really looking forward to this GP, as this is a unique track with a wide variety of corners; some are seriously quick, but others are very slow. And in some places you can choose different lines, which makes it particularly interesting. The final sector is very different from the other two, as it has just two long straights and a hard braking area. This track really offers everything, and that means it demands a lot of the car. The later start time means there is a pretty strong chance of rain. I’m sure that we are in for an extremely interesting weekend.”

For Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica, there should be a lot to look forward to. The f1.0 series cars so far are bulletproof in reliability and the speed and handling are there. Robert Kubica is convinced he could have won the Australian Grand Prix but for that crash near the end (he could have avoided that I think) and his fastest lap of the day toward the end of the gp proves the car is fast. Nick Heidfeld is taking flack once again over his performance in Australia, but what’s up with that? Yes, his qualifying was poor and what I have issue with is how late in the qualifying sessions BMW Sauber sends their cars out. They’re the last ones out and so can only manage a few flying laps before time runs out. Don’t get me going on that one. Let’s not forget that last year Robert Kubica came in second in the race for the first podium of the season and Nick Heidfeld turned in the fastest lap of the day.

So my first impressions are good and based on that I can say that if we can keep close to the Brawn GP cars then challenging for race wins is a great possibility.

I’ll have more on the Sepang Circuit next.