Formula 1 Betting: Unpredictable weather makes Malaysia toughest race

Formula One / Thomas Cowie / 01 April 2009 / Leave a Comment

Hot on the heels of last weekend's spectacular season opener in Australia, F1 moves to Malaysia on Sunday. Tom Cowie provides the lowdown on the Sepang Track.

After six months of uncertainty, preceded by two years of mediocrity, Jenson Button took his second F1 career win as Brawn GP dominated their maiden Grand Prix and became only the second team in F1 history to take pole and victory on debut.

For arguably the first time in his 10 year F1 career, Button had a car that complimented his undeniable talent, but he will have little time to rest on his laurels, as Malaysia's Sepang circuit provides the first real test of F1's radical 2009 spec cars.

Unlike Melbourne, Sepang is a purpose built race circuit, which hosted it's first race in 1999. It will expose any aerodynamic weaknesses a car may have, requiring a combination of good top speed, stability under braking, and performance in both slow and high speed corners.

The weather is the most important factor in Malaysia where intense 40 degree heat, combined with high humidity, makes this the toughest race of the year for drivers, who will drink up to four litres of water a day to stay hydrated.

Occasionally, the humidity gives way to monsoon conditions, as was the case in 2001. If it does rain, the drivers will really earn their money - trying to keep the car pointing in the right direction with 40% less grip than last year will play in to the hands of the wet weather specialists - Hamilton and Button being the pick of the bunch.

Come rain or shine, Ferrari will feel quietly confident when they touch down in Kuala Lumpur. They have won half of the 10 races staged here, most memorably at the inaugural race in 1999, when Michael Schumacher, having missed the previous six races with a broken leg, nonchalantly took pole by almost a second.

Kimi Raikkonen won here last year, registering Ferrari's first points of the season after drawing a blank in Melbourne. Having repeated the latter last week, Ferrari will be hoping to achieve the former on Sunday.

The market clearly doesn't fancy their chances however, with Raikkonen and Felipe Massa currently trading at a surprisingly long [16.5] and [17.0] for the win respectively.

The teams have no time to iron out any issues from Melbourne, so it is unlikely that those who struggled in Australia will fair any better here - most notably McLaren, who were only good for a point or two before the Scuderia's prancing horses pulled up lame, and Sebastian Vettel and Robert Kubica decided to try their hands at stock car driving.

World Champion Lewis Hamilton is trading like a rookie at a lowly [22.0] - Heikki Kovalienen in the sister car is at [85.0] after his Australian GP lasted all of one lap. These are grim times indeed for the Woking outfit.

Sebastian Vettel finds himself at [26.0] after being three laps from second place on Sunday. However, if you take into account his Monza heroics last year, he is another one to watch if it rains.

Unsurprisingly, Brawn GP are the runaway favourites, with Jenson Button and Rubens Barrachello trading at [2.9] and [5.5] respectively, but although the opposition may appear toothless at the moment, Brawn do have one potential achiles heel - reliability.

Remarkable as their three week F1 career has been thus far, Brawn could pay the price for having so few pre-season miles under their belt, particularly as their engines have to get through another two race weekends before they can be replaced.

There is a chance, as the market suggests that Brawn GP could run away with it again on Sunday. However, the variable weather, technically demanding track, and the potentially brittle Brawns mean that Sunday's result is far from a foregone conclusion.