I often like seeing the newer F1 fans get to experience something about the sport that has been gone for some time. Witnessing the love people have for Malaysia having not witnessed it back when it was part of the circus properly honestly makes me feel somewhat emotional.
The Sepang International Circuit was and always will be one of my favourite tracks. It just feels like a real race track, if you get what I mean. Something which it feels like is becoming a remnant of the past.
I know there are other proper tracks still in use, most of which were in circulation the last time Malaysia was permanently part of the calendar.
But they’re different now to what this one is and what they once were. They’ve changed, evolved over the years out of the necessity of the sports rules now. They don’t quite have that same edge or feel to me that I still get seeing them race round the 5.5km of the Sepang circuit.
A love for tradition
I don’t want to kid myself, I know this feeling is out of nostalgia rather than a genuine feeling that some of the older and most prestigious tracks that still remain have lost their touch.
Silverstone. Monza. Suzuka. Spa. Hungaroring. Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Interlagos.
Seven of my absolute favourite circuits, all of which were on the calendar before Malaysia and have remained part since Sepang’s last proper running in 2017.
I’m not saying these aren’t top quality tracks that don’t deliver anymore like they used to. If anything, they are seven of the 24 circuits on the calendar that you can guarantee will produce excitement and even sometimes an all-time classic.
And that’s where I get that feeling from being back in Malaysia. It’s part of that group where I remember races being thrilling. The cars felt like they were at the ragged edge throughout the lap and the drivers had to be at their very best to get a result.
Where they only had roughly 60 days to prepare to host, they didn’t have the luxury of resurfacing or changing runoffs to suit current standards or anything like you see from the other circuits that have changed over the years.
They simply had to make sure that what was already existing was ready. Clean it up, fix anything that can be sorted quickly. It’s still an FIA Grade 1 track, after all. Racing does still happen there in different categories, so it’s not like it’s been untouched all this time.
One small issue
The only problem I do have with it is these 2026 cars don’t seem as at home on it as the older generations. They don’t seem as on it as they used to.
I saw a clip online that showed the difference between a lap on Friday and a lap from 2017. And in multiple places, the two cars were taking completely different lines.
The 2017 lap looked so much more aggressive, attacking the corners. These cars don’t do that. And that’s because they can’t.
Compare these 2026 cars to those from 2017 and you see a big difference in medium- and high-speed corners, especially here in Malaysia where it is mainly medium and high-speed turns.
In fairness, the pole lap time Verstappen set on Saturday wasn’t that far off of where they were in 2017. His 1:35.130 was only just over a second slower than the lap record of 1:34.080, set by Sebastian Vettel in 2017.
Oh, only that lap record, as any, came during the race. Lewis Hamilton put it on pole that year with a 1:30.076.
The cars almost 10 years ago were five seconds quicker than they are now.
I don’t think there’s really much more to add. I want to see the Malaysia Grand Prix back on the calendar full-time, but only when the cars get back to looking like absolute monsters sticking to the track and not sacrificing top speed to fill up a battery.
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