‘Completely Different’: Drivers Brace for Sepang’s Sandpaper Asphalt
Nine years off the calendar haven’t done Sepang’s tarmac any favours — drivers are already describing it as sandpaper, and most expect tyre wear to finally shake up the strategic script. Carlos Sainz reckons degradation could finally make an appearance: “Maybe finally we see some deg… it makes the racing a bit less driver dependent.” Oscar Piastri is blunter still, calling the surface sandpaper-rough and bracing for “a pretty tough weekend, from every angle.”
Championship leader Kimi Antonelli warns Sepang will feel nothing like the last three post-summer-break races, likening the roughness to Bahrain — “maybe even more.” George Russell flags a different concern: tyres overheating from the track surface itself rather than from “yo-yo” corners, which could make close racing and re-attacks trickier all weekend.
Throw in rain and things get spicier — most of the grid has barely any wet-weather mileage in the 2026 cars. Lando Norris calls it a “completely new experience,” while Antonelli is cautiously upbeat, noting Sepang’s open asphalt drains well, which could make it the ideal venue for the field’s first proper wet running of the year.
Source: Formula1.com
