Events; Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix 2009 Practice Sessions

Visiting the Sepang International Circuit on practice day, thanks to the sponsorship of a corporate client at my day job was quite the experience. Besides the regular hot and humid Malaysian weather, we managed to catch some support race action too, being visitors to the track from 11am till 3pm; technically the whole day.

There were fewer foreign visitors to the track this year, not surprising given the economic doom and gloom all around us, but response from the public was still good, given that the practice sessions are technically free and anyone is able to attend them.

We gained entry to the paddocks as well, but since the GP2 and Formula BMW cars were out for their practice sessions, a paddock walk wasn’t possible. Although we couldn’t actually walk the paddock, we spotted a few interesting sights around the area, including these few images below;

Expect some cheap Golf GTIs to appear on the market very soon! There were more than five of these TrackWagens the last time we counted, and that’s including some Beetles as well.

Yeah, Brembo all the way! Methinks he’s one of the technicians which supports any race crew running the legendary brakes.

Tires were seen everywhere on the track. Besides the full slicks soft compound models, teams also receive longer-lasting hard compound, intermediate wets as well as full wet tires from Bridgestone. I had the opportunity to feel one up; its sticky, even when it’s cold!

You can clearly see the intermediate as well as wet tires in this image. Otherwise, soft compound tires are kept in tire warmers to keep them sticky in the background.

As we were sitting in the grandstands, we managed to capture some of the practice session runs for all three open-wheel races; here are some of the GP2 cars pacing the track.

Here are some shots of the Formula BMW cars, featuring our own local drivers! Although we could try guessing who’s who, unfortunately that information is currently out of our hands right now.

Taking some time off their schedules, McLaren Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen met some enthusiastic fans during their autograph session. With his Brit charm, Hamilton grabbed the mike and started greeting his fans which took everybody by surprise. It’s little wonder how he gets his fans.

On to some Formula 1 practice session action! Snapping F1 cars with just your kit lens can be tiring. The massive speed of the cars as well slow autofocusing makes for some hairy moments as you try and track the car. Here are some clean shots of the drivers which we managed to snap! Try identifying them!

Okay, we really want to try this Red Bull Cola here!!!

The dude needs a tan, hence the lack of a shirt!

Who will eventually win the championship in Malaysia? The action starts now!