Visitor guide · Sepang 2026

Circuit guide

Sepang is the original Hermann Tilke Formula 1 design — opened in 1999, and the template every modern circuit was judged against. Wide, fast, and famously at the mercy of tropical weather: races here have been decided by downpours arriving mid-race with almost no warning.

The numbers

5.543 km · 15 turns · 56 laps · 310.408 km race distance

Long straights and big braking zones make it one of the better overtaking circuits on the calendar. The back straight into the final hairpin (Turn 15) is the classic passing spot — late braking, big crowd, usually decisive.

Two things that define it

The weather

Afternoon and evening tropical storms are the norm in this part of Malaysia, not the exception. Sepang's drainage is excellent, but a safety car for standing water has decided races here. Whatever the forecast says: bring rain cover, and don't assume the session you planned around happens dry.

The width

Sepang is unusually wide for a Grand Prix circuit, which opens multiple racing lines through the fast sweeping sections (Turns 5–8). Cars can run side by side where narrower tracks force single file — it's why the racing here is usually better than the layout suggests on paper.

Context

The Malaysian Grand Prix ran at Sepang from 1999 to 2017. Max Verstappen won the last one in 2017; the 2016 race is remembered for Lewis Hamilton's engine failure while leading. The circuit never left top-level motorsport — it stayed a MotoGP fixture the whole time. Its return in 2026 is as the rescheduled Bahrain Grand Prix, after Bahrain's April race was cancelled.