The start of Formula 1’s new era provoked plenty of debate in Australia and this weekend round two of the 2014 season takes the sport to Malaysia and you can watch all the action from Sepang live on BBC TV and Sky Sports F1.
This year sees Sepang host its 16th Formula 1 race, having made its debut on the calendar in 1999 when Michael Schumacher handed victory to his Ferrari team-mate Eddie Irvine to help the Northern Irishman in his fight for the world championship.
Famous for its sudden storms and high humidity, the race is held on the 5.543km Hermann Tilke-designed track built on the site of a former oil palm plantation.
Mercedes proved the dominant force at the season-opener in Australia two weeks ago and Nico Rosberg’s comfortable victory has given the German driver the championship lead for the first time in his career.
However, after dropping out through engine problems almost before the race had begun at Albert Park, team-mate Lewis Hamilton is determined to ignite his title challenge and take advantage of his car’s current pace advantage.
Pending the outcome of their appeal against Daniel Ricciardo’s disqualification in Australia for infringing new-for-2014 fuel flow rates, quadruple World Champions Red Bull are in the unusual position of having no points on the board themselves.
The team and Sebastian Vettel will aim to get off the mark at the scene of last year’s infamous ‘Multi-21’ saga.
Malaysia’s tropical climate means rain – and heavy downpours at that – are a perennial risk throughout the race weekend, and with nothing set to change on that front this time round, the early 2014 formbook could easily be turned on its head.
The Australian Grand Prix provided an excellent appetiser for the season ahead, promoting new stars of the sport while suggesting the form guide shaped by winter testing was not entirely to be relied upon.
Equatorial Sepang, however, provides a very different environment to Albert Park and is liable to see a very different race as machinery and drivers are pushed to their limits.
While Australia provided a relatively gentle introduction for the new power units, Sepang will take them to extremes.
The Malaysian Grand Prix has the potential to be the hottest race of the year and with around two-thirds of the lap conducted at full throttle cooling performance is expected to play a big part this weekend.
Another exciting race is expected in Sepang and fans can follow all the action from the second round of the 2014 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season on both BBC Sport and Sky Sports F1.
SOTB’s viewing guide to the 2014 F1 Malaysian Grand Prix below:
OFFICIAL F1 WEBSITE TRACK GUIDE LIVE TIMING
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The Malaysian Grand Prix represents the first of nine live race weekends on BBC television in 2014.
Live coverage begins on early on Friday morning with both free practice sessions on BBC Two, followed by practice three live on Saturday morning.
As usual on the BBC’s live race weekends, both qualifying and the race will be shown as it happens on Saturday and Sunday respectively on BBC One and BBC One HD, followed by re-runs in the afternoon.
Suzi Perry presents BBC TV’s coverage across weekend where she will be joined by regular trackside experts David Coulthard and Allan McNish, both of whom will be on hand to provide lively analysis and discussion in the pits and paddock.
During the lengthy qualifying and race build-ups there will be plenty of fresh features and interviews to keep viewers informed and entertained, featuring the first of Mark Webber’s special films as well as David Coulthard’s grid-walk on race day.
Commentary comes from Ben Edwards and Coulthard, with Lee McKenzie and Tom Clarkson providing pit-lane updates and conduct interviews with the drivers and team personnel.
BBC Sport’s popular F1 Forum, presented by Suzi Perry, follows the conclusion of the BBC One race transmission on the BBC Red Button and online at 11.15am.
The BBC Sport website will have live streaming of all live BBC TV broadcasts, as well as additional live video content during including extra feeds such as driver tracker, on-board cameras, pits channel and a choice of commentary, plus interviews and analysis.
All of the BBC’s TV coverage will be available to view shortly after transmission on BBC iPlayer.
BBC Radio 5 Live and 5 Live Sports Extra will also have live audio commentary of every on-track session from Sepang with James Allen, Jennie Gow and Allan McNish.
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FORMULA 1 2014 ON SKY SPORTS F1 HD
Sky Sports F1 will have its usual extensive live coverage of this weekend’s grand prix in Malaysia.
The race will be shown live and uninterrupted, along with the qualifying and practice sessions, and with the early start times, fans will be able catch up on any of the action they’ve missed with full session replays at various times throughout the day.
Simon Lazenby will present full coverage of the Friday practice sessions, qualifying and the race itself, where he will be joined throughout the weekend by Martin Brundle, Damon Hill and Johnny Herbert.
Ted Kravitz and Natalie Pinkham will provide the latest news and reports and from the pit lane, while commentary on all sessions comes from David Croft.
Martin Brundle will join Croft in the commentary box for both qualifying and the race, with new Sky signing Bruno Senna making his debut for the channel calling the practice sessions, as well as providing his unique insights via the Sky Pad during the weekend.
A special edition of The F1 Show live from the Sepang pits will build up to the race weekend with a unique insight into the Williams team’s preparations, hosted by Simon Lazenby and Natalie Pinkham, who will both be joined by former driver Bruno Senna.
During the race, a host of interactive additions, including on-board cameras, pit-lane feeds, the latest race stats and much more available via the red button and the Sky Sports for iPad app.
For those who won’t be at home, every second of the action can be seen via computers, laptops, mobiles and tablet devices on Sky Go.
Further information, news and video content can be found at skysports.com/f1, and viewers are encouraged to interact with the live programmes via Twitter – @SkySportsF1, #SkyF1.
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