Team McLaren Mercedes F1 Preview: Malaysia

Posted by www.eMercedesBenz.com on March 16, 2006
Coming off a third place finish in Bahrain, Kimi Raikkonen and the  
rest of the McLaren Mercedes F1 team are already gearing up for the  
next race in Malaysia.

The team travelled directly to Kuala Lumpur's Sepang circuit along  
with the MP4-21's and trackside equipment, where they have begun  
preparations for the first free practice which starts in just three  
days.

Here's what the team has to say about the race:


KIMI RAIKKONEN

"My race in Bahrain showed that the MP4-21 is a competitive car,  
despite the heavy fuel load I had for most of the race compared to  
the cars around me, it was quick. I now want to get back on track in  
Malaysia and have a better qualifying session, so that I can improve  
on my finishing position in Bahrain. Sepang is a track that sees car  
set-up compromised between efficiency at high speeds, for areas such  
as the start and final straights where we reach full throttle, and  
good grip for the slower corners, such as the complex at turns one,  
14 and 15. Parts of the track are great to drive, such as the S  
complex and you need to really push through here to get a good lap  
time. After Bahrain, I have been spending a few days relaxing and  
doing my fitness training in hot conditions. I will also focus on  
getting used to taking on a lot of fluid to replace what is lost  
through sweat. Dehydration affects concentration levels, muscle  
strength and endurance, and so I have been working with my trainer to  
avoid this. We also have to make modifications to the cars to cope  
with the heat, for example there will be larger air cooling intakes  
on MP4-21 for this race."


JUAN PABLO MONTOYA

"I am really looking forward to the Malaysian Grand Prix this  
weekend, Sepang is a track I love to race on and it suits my driving  
style. I am hoping that this will help me and the team to find a  
better set-up with the car than I had in Bahrain and that we will be  
putting more points on the board. The wide track and its sweeping  
corners mean there are a few good overtaking chances, I guess the  
main opportunity is corner 15, but you do need really good traction  
to make the most of it. Other characteristics of the track are the  
gradient changes, including through the complex at the end of the  
first straight, and the different cambers. Of course the humidity is  
another major factor, Malaysia is a really punishing race physically.  
It gets so hot in the cockpit, up to 50 degrees centigrade and you  
lose a lot of fluid, up to four litres, during the race alone. The  
tropical climate means that it could rain at any minute, so that is  
always a bit unpredictable, particularly because when it rains in  
Malaysia, it really rains!"


MARTIN WHITMARSH, CEO FORMULA ONE, TEAM McLAREN MERCEDES

"It was an interesting start to the 2006 season in Bahrain, which  
gave us the first opportunity to understand how the new qualifying  
and tyre change regulations would operate in race weekend conditions,  
and to gauge our genuine competitiveness compared with the other  
teams. Of the latter, it was a reassuring race for Team McLaren  
Mercedes with the performance of the car meeting our expectations.  
Despite Kimi's issue in qualifying and Juan Pablo's handling  
concerns, we were able to take ten points from the weekend, which is  
a good basis to build upon. We now move to Malaysia, where tyre wear  
is a key factor. Despite a smooth surface characteristic, the hard  
acceleration and braking points combined with the high track  
temperatures, which can reach 50 degrees centigrade, tends to punish  
the tyres. Our Michelins performed well in Bahrain, with the  
intensive development work conducted with the test team and Michelin  
over the winter to ensure we adapt back to short stints proving  
invaluable, and we hope this performance will continue at Sepang.  
After Malaysia, our test team will return to the track, at Paul  
Ricard in France, to continue their programme. This will include  
conducting the shakedown of chassis 4 of MP4-21, which we aim to get  
out to Melbourne for the Australian Grand Prix."


NORBERT HAUG, VICE PRESIDENT, MERCEDES-BENZ MOTORSPORT

"We learned in Bahrain that the level of competition is higher than  
we have ever previously seen in this sport. A demonstration of this  
was the fastest lap times of the top seven drivers, which were all  
within just over four tenths of a second and the best lap times of  
the top ten drivers in qualifying all within about a second. We were  
quite pleased with the performance of our technical package and are  
now looking forward to the Malaysian Grand Prix. The conditions at  
the Sepang circuit will be different from those experienced in  
Bahrain last weekend, as the race takes place in hot and very humid  
conditions with a chance of rain this time of the year. The track  
with a smooth, low grip surface is quite hard on the tyres as a  
result of the high surface temperatures. Close to 70 percent of a lap  
will be run under full throttle, so the track is quite stressful for  
the engines.”

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