Turns 1 & 2
invite the fight.
A long right-hander tightens into a slow left. One driver can attack the braking zone while another cuts back underneath. The corner keeps the argument alive.
16 mFIA reference width
Malaysia · 02°45′54″N 101°44′16″E
The circuit that rewrote Formula racing.
Built for battle. Tempered by heat.
Remembered for the rain.
The genesis · 1998
Before Sepang,
a circuit followed the land.
Sepang shaped it.
Hermann Tilke's first from-scratch Formula 1 circuit arrived as a new kind of grand prix venue: monumental, camera-ready and engineered around wheel-to-wheel racing.
Built near Kuala Lumpur International Airport and completed in only fourteen months, Sepang announced Malaysia as a modern motorsport nation. Its dramatic canopy grandstand, immense width and two-straight finale became a blueprint for a new generation of global circuits.
Read the official circuit history ↗
0
months
From swampland to world stage
1999
First Malaysian Grand Prix
5.543
km
One lap of Sepang
The anatomy of an overtake
Built wide.
Raced wider.
Scroll three laps. Your pace controls the car.
Zone 01
Turns 1–2
Draft down the main straight. Brake late. Switch back for the inside line.
Turns 1 & 2
Turn 9 punishes
half-decisions.
The lap's tightest left-hander arrives after a burst of acceleration. A late-braking move is possible—but compromise the exit and the climbing right-hander bites back.
15turns around the full circuit
Two straights.
One final hairpin.
The back straight and pit straight meet at Turn 15. Slipstream, defend, cross over—then race the full length of the main straight to finish the move.
300+km/h before braking
The great equaliser
50° asphalt.
Then the sky breaks.
Sepang never offered one race. It offered two conditions—sometimes on the same lap.
54°TRACK
Tyres overheat. Drivers dehydrate. Every braking zone gets longer.
2009
Rain ended the race after 31 laps. Half points. No restart.
Eight races—and one impossible return
The moments
still echo.
Sepang gave Formula 1 first wins, title deciders, red flags, broken team orders and a farewell nobody believed would last nine years.
1999—2026
01
The beginning
Schumacher returns.
Sepang arrives.
Michael Schumacher takes pole on his comeback; Eddie Irvine wins Malaysia's first Grand Prix.
CHAOS
Monsoon
Ferrari falls.
Ferrari recovers.
Both red cars slide off in the rain—then Schumacher and Barrichello fight back to finish one-two.
1ST
A star is born
Räikkönen's
maiden victory.
At 23, Kimi wins by 39 seconds and begins his journey toward a world championship.
31/56
Race stopped
Daylight fades.
The rain wins.
A tropical deluge ends the Grand Prix after 31 laps—one of F1's rare half-points races.
2.263
The impossible duel
Alonso versus
a fearless Pérez.
From eighth, Alonso survives the wet as Pérez closes to within 2.263 seconds of a first victory.
21
Team order ignored
“Multi 21.”
Two words. One feud.
Vettel passes team-mate Webber against instruction. The podium tells the rest of the story.
NO!
Heartbreak
Hamilton leads.
The engine lets go.
A certain victory disappears in smoke, shifting the momentum of the championship.
FINAL
One last race
Verstappen wins
the farewell.
On his 20th birthday weekend, Max passes Hamilton and wins Sepang's final Formula 1 race.
BACK
The return · 2–4 October
Nine years away.
Formula 1 returns.
Formula 1 and the FIA announce that Sepang will host the 2026 Bahrain Grand Prix, subject to final sign-off.
The record book
4
Sebastian
2010 · 2011 · 2013 · 2015
Most Malaysian GP wins
Sebastian
Vettel
2010 · 2011 · 2013 · 2015
2017 — 2026 · Nine years without Formula 1
The wait is over.
Sepang returns.
Formula 1 and the FIA have announced a return to Sepang on 2–4 October 2026, hosting the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia. The event remains subject to final agreements and World Motor Sport Council approval.
Read the official announcement↗