With only a week between the first two races this season, thoughts are already turning to Sepang and the possibility of the order changing on so different a track from Melbourne. The "twilight" race has not been forgotten completely, however, and both Nakajima and Rosberg have expressed doubts about starting races so late in the afternoon.
Malaysia - or the bit that concerns us
The Malaysian GP is set to begin at 5:00pm local time and so it too raises questions as to the wisdom of racing in low light conditions. What seems to be missed by most commentators, however, is that Sepang is within the tropics and has virtually no twilight therefore. The closer to the equator, the more abrupt is the change from daylight to night - and Sepang is pretty close (it is near Port Dickson on the map above).
Looking at the sunset times for Kuala Lumpur, north of Sepang (7:21pm for Sunday, April 5th), the GP has about half an hour leeway before darkness falls and so all should be well - in theory. The potential problem is complicated by the weather forecast for race day, however. An 80% chance of rain means that it is likely that the light will be made worse by heavy clouds overhead, even if it does not actually rain. And anyone who has seen monsoon rainclouds knows how dark it can get underneath them.
The combination of gloomy weather and gathering darkness near the end of the race begins to look pretty dangerous to me. We were lucky in Melbourne in that the light lasted just long enough for the race, although much mention was made of the difficulties of driving directly into the setting sun, something that was apparent from the onboard camera shots too. The chance that conditions will be worse in Malaysia is obviously present.
It is possible, of course, that the Sepang GP is run without the light conditions causing any accidents. But it must be recognized that it would be a matter of getting lucky again - and it seems foolish that F1 is flirting so unnecessarily with disaster. The whole idea is to make things easier for the European television audiences, remember, and it is debatable whether such considerations should even be entertained when there are safety matters at issue.
Sooner or later these twilight races are going to run into a serious problem. That could mean a curtailed race (not the end of the world but not good for the image of the sport either) or a serious accident that will be avoidable in retrospect. In my opinion, the idea was a bad one from the start and should be ended now before the inevitable happens. We have accepted night races, although it remains to be seen what happens when it rains; but twilight races are a disaster waiting to happen.
On a lighter note (pun intended), I cannot resist pointing out that F1 has a new driver of its medical car. Alan van der Merwe has been appointed to the position and I know that this news will make all Southern Africans smile - but not for the reason you might think. Ask me nicely and I might let you in on the inside joke.