Felipe Massa: In Sepang you have to be ready for anything

Before telling you how these days preceding the Malaysian Grand Prix went, I want to express all my sadness for the death of Gustavo Sondermann, who passed away due to the consequences of a terrible accident which occurred last Sunday in Interlagos during a pick-up race in part of the Brazilian Stock Car championship. I knew him well and our fathers are friends: I am very saddened by this loss and I am close to all his family in this difficult moment. Surely all my thoughts are with him at the moment and I would be happy to be able to dedicate a good result to him next Sunday in Malaysia.

I recently arrived in Kuala Lumpur, having spent a few days at home in Brazil following the Australian Grand Prix. I almost always stayed in Sao Paulo with family and friends because after the race in China I will return to base myself in Europe until the final part of the season. I have always remained in contact with my engineers in Maranello so I know we can expect something different in the car when I sit in the cockpit on Friday morning. No one at Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro was happy with either our performance or the final result of the Australian Grand Prix and a lot of work was done to understand why we didn't live up to our expectations that weekend and how to improve this weekend in Malaysia.

In this second race there will still be many questions on the table when we start testing, also because if we compare the Melbourne and Sepang tracks the difference is just as clear as that between day and night. The asphalt at Albert Park is not very abrasive and the temperatures remained cool, without considering that it is practically a city track, even if it is almost permanent and there are different types of corners. In Sepang it is very hot and the track is much more classic, with many parts that are driven at high speed, fast corners and many changes of direction. Furthermore, from a physical point of view the differences are obvious: if after a race at Albert Park you get out of the car practically fresh as a daisy, in Malaysia you lose a lot of fluids and a few kilos of weight, given that it is much more tiring to drive on this track with temperatures between 30 and 40 °C. For all these reasons I expect to see a very different performance from the team and the car.

As regards the mobile rear wing, the situation will be interesting because at the moment the system will only be able to be used in the race on the pit straight but in Sepang the front straight is longer and usually offers a better chance of overtaking. Now we will see if this decision by the FIA ​​will remain as it is or if there will be some changes: perhaps we can think about using it on both straights. This decision can make the race more interesting for both drivers and spectators. Personally, I don't think that allowing the use of DRS on two straights is the best option because I think it could make overtaking too easy: you have to try to have the right balance between creating more opportunities and even having too many overtaking. In Sepang there are two consecutive straights and there is a risk of having a scenario in which a driver uses the first only to get closer to the car in front of him and then play it safe on the second straight.

As for the weather conditions, it is inevitable to expect the usual afternoon thunderstorms. So far I have only had the chance to test the Pirelli tires once in Jerez, in February, which is not enough to have a sensible idea of ​​their behavior. We will have to be ready to face any eventuality and it will be interesting to see how the tires behave in the heat and with a lot of water on the track. It will also be a very important weekend for Pirelli after a relatively simple debut in Melbourne.

As a rider there isn't much you can do to protect yourself from the heat but if you are fit there are no problems. I tried various methods, such as immersing the suit in cold water before the start, but whatever you do the race remains very hard: it's not only the high temperatures but also the humidity that makes everything unpleasant. We raced many times in Bahrain in 40 degree temperatures but I almost didn't sweat in the car because the heat in the desert is very dry. In Malaysia it is the humidity that makes you suffer the most and causes you to lose fluids which affects your concentration and strength. It's the track where you struggle the most: at least in Brazil I had the opportunity to get used to it, as it was very hot there too. Last year we made a serious strategic mistake in qualifying in the wet and found ourselves starting from the back rows. In the end I finished the race in seventh place but we will do everything we can to avoid repeating similar mistakes. As I said, the key in Sepang is to be ready for anything.