KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 29: The last time that British Formula One racing ace Sir Lewis Hamilton raced at the Sepang International Circuit (SIC) was seven years ago but he still has fond memories of the track which he describes as daunting and challenging.
“The race we used to have here (in Malaysia) was the most extreme because of the intense heat and more so we had the race during daytime,” he told Bernama’s Siti Radziah Hamzah during a recent stopover here after the Singapore F1 GP.
Hamilton added:”Obviously ( I am ) missing the race at Sepang where the temperature can go up to 32 degrees with a 70 percent humidity, it’s just hot (for the drivers) and hot on the tyres like at the (just ended) Singapore GP.”
Compared with races in other countries, the British driving champion describes the Formula 1 (F1) races on Southeast Asian tracks as “tough and physically demanding” due to the intense heat and humid weather.
Still visibly recovering from a borderline heatstroke after the Singapore GP, the Mercedes-AMG Petronas driver had described Sepang as being the most extreme heat-wise.
Hamilton, who fell ill immediately after the race in Singapore, was excused from an obligatory media conference as Mercedes had requested for a medical exemption for its drivers, including George Russel.
He revealed that he was constantly rehydrating after suffering from borderline heatstroke and that he “is very tired”.
“It is always very very hot here. I love racing at Sepang, that track was incredible, it was a great circuit and then Singapore is a really fun circuit.
“It (Singapore) was a street circuit (and) it was the first night race that we’d had (this year). And it’s gotten better and better each year. The biggest crowd we have ever had there this year,” he said.
At the Singapore GP, his Mercedes-AMG Petronas team-mate George Russel came in fourth while the seven-time world champion was sixth. The 62-lap race there also ran without a Safety Car interruption for the first time in its 16-year history. A week earlier, both drivers had raced in the Azerbaijan GP in Baku.
The SIC was home for the Malaysian GP between 1999 and 2017, but dropped off the F1 calendar mainly due to rising costs. In his last race at SIC in 2017, Hamilton came in second at just 12.77 seconds behind Red Bull’s Mark Verstappen.
Elaborating on the hot and humid weather in the region, Lewis said: “Singapore is very humid even though it’s at night and the sun has gone down.
“And it’s still very physically demanding, it’s very bumpy and a very long track and so you need to know you are working in a different time zone. You’re going to bed at 6-7 am and waking up in the afternoon to start your day.
“So, you have less sunlight in your system, you don’t get a full day of light into your eyes and your circadian rhythm,” he explained.
Circadian rhythms are 24-hour cycles that are part of the body’s internal clock, running in the background to carry out essential functions and processes.
Hamilton said the Marina Bay street race is usually the most physically demanding of the F1 season owing to the heat and humidity in the island republic.
“It’s so hot. It’s really hot on the tyres. Tyres can’t keep up with (the heat), they (also) struggle to keep up with the temperature of the car and also now the drivers. But it’s good to have like all (the different kinds of weather).
“You have the cold wind, cold races, you have rainy races and then you have all the different seasons. If you just had cold races all year it’d be boring (or) if you had just all hot, it would be boring if we had all (like) Singapore’s, we wouldn’t last. Yes it’s good (to have different kinds of races).”
Asked how he prepares for races in different cities and different conditions when the races are held back-to-back which gives very little time for one to get adjusted to the changed weather conditions, he revealed: “You can’t be too heavy, also so you can’t eat too much. Then there is the challenge to cope with the timing of the sleep due to different time zones.”
On his stint long-term stint with Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team which he has six races left this year before he leaves, Hamilton said the achievements for both parties have been remarkable.
“Over the years it has been amazing and we have grown together in a real positive way.
“I have been with them for quite a bit of time. I think I would just always wish the people within Petronas always health and positivity,” he said when speaking on 50th anniversary of the Malaysian national oil corporation this year.
“I hope Petronas will continue to really push and drive for change. I think a company like this has the power to do that within Malaysia particularly,” said Hamilton as he also lauded Petronas for providing opportunities for young kids in their education and careers, and even exposure to F1 races.
Hamilton will leave Mercedes at the end of the 2024 season and join Ferrari in 2025. He signed for Mercedes at the end of 2012 to race for them in the 2013 season.