It was at Sepang in 2002 that the first-ever drive-through penalty was handed out. Juan Pablo Montoya collided with Michael Schumacher on the opening lap and earned himself the new penalty, which had been introduced to the regulations at the start of the season.

The new drive-through penalty had been introduced as an intermediate penalty to penalise drivers for offences which were not deemed serious enough to warrant a 10-second stop-and-go penalty. Despite having to take an additional drive through the pit lane, Montoya still finished second in the race.

Sepang zählt zu den Regionen Malaysias, in denen besonders häufig Blitze auftreten. Das tropische und feuchte Klima macht das Wetter an einem Rennwochenende schwer vorhersehbar. Rund um den Sepang International Circuit können Gewitter innerhalb kurzer Zeit entstehen. 

Daten einer Wetterstation am nahe gelegenen Flughafen Kuala Lumpur zeigen, wie ausgeprägt das Phänomen ist. In jedem Jahr zwischen 2015 und 2024 wurden dort an mehr als 300 Tagen Blitze registriert – der höchste Wert unter 14 vergleichbaren Wetterstationen im Land. 

Sepang International Circuit has been resurfaced on a number of occasions, most notably in 2007 and 2016 – though there was also a partial resurfacing after F1® last raced here, which took place in 2023.

Each time the track has been surfaced, a special concoction of bitumen compound has been used that helps to keep the track smooth despite the climate and weather conditions often encountered there. Specifically, the bitumen used is Shell PG76, commonly found in airport runways and designed to maintain structural integrity under extreme stress and temperatures.

Alex Yoong, from Kuala Lumpur, is the only Malaysian driver to have raced in Formula 1 and remains the only local driver to have competed in the Malaysian Grand Prix. He did so in 2002, when racing with Minardi. Starting from last on the grid, he was unable to make the end of the race. He pulled up at the side of the track just beyond the halfway point, having lost fourth, fifth and sixth gears.

There are certain elements of Formula 1 which we take for granted and often don’t question the origins of. Like tyre markings, for example.

For the 2007 season, a new rule was introduced whereby drivers had to use both hard and soft compounds of tyre during a Grand Prix. It’s now a common part of race weekends, with tyres marked with different coloured bands for each different compound. When the rule was in its infancy, however, not much thought had been given to how the compounds would be differentiated for viewers watching at home and trackside.

It was at the 2007 Malaysian Grand Prix that white stripes were painted onto the tyres for the first time, to allow spectators to better understand tyre strategies. At this time, when F1® was still using grooved tyres, the white stripe was painted into the tyre tread instead of on the outer wall.

Malaysia has never hosted a title-decider in its history on the F1® calendar – but it almost did by default on its debut in 1999. In the 1999 Malaysian Grand Prix, Ferrari recorded a 1-2 finish which would have kept the title fight between Eddie Irvine and Mika Häkkinen alive until the final round of the season.

However, following post-race checks, Ferrari were disqualified from the result due to irregularities with their bargeboards. The decision briefly handed championship victory to Häkkinen. However, Ferrari appealed the decision and the appeal was upheld one week later. The verdict, which found that the bargeboard discrepancy was within an allowable 5mm tolerance, overturned the disqualification and meant that the title battle would go down to the wire in Japan after all!

After being held towards the end of the season for its first two appearances on the F1® calendar, the Malaysian Grand Prix moved to the second round of the season in 2001. It left a gap of only 147 days between the 2000 and 2001 races at Sepang International Circuit, a new record for the shortest time between two races at a single circuit. It remained the record until the start of the 2020 season, when the coronavirus-impacted schedule saw Austria’s Red Bull Ring host two races which took place just seven days apart from one another.

The 2003 Malaysian Grand Prix featured two firsts for two headline names of Formula 1 in the 21^st century. Fernando Alonso secured his first pole position on Saturday, while Kimi Räikkönen took his first F1® win on Sunday.

This was only the sixth time in the sport’s history that two different drivers had secured the first pole and first win of their careers on the same Grand Prix weekend. It’s an occurrence that has happened only once since, at the 2022 São Paulo Grand Prix, where Kevin Magnussen secured pole and George Russell went on to win the race.