SEPANG, Malaysia, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli said Sepang's notorious abrasive surface could prove a welcome surprise should Formula One finally get its first wet race of the season in Malaysia.
The young Italian, who has enjoyed a charmed run of dry conditions throughout his title charge, reckons the Malaysian circuit's rough tarmac would make it the ideal venue to test the sport's 2026 cars in challenging weather.
Thunderstorms are far from unusual in Malaysia, where the tropical climate regularly produces heavy afternoon showers and lightning storms.
"I think this track will be quite OK in the wet ... The surface is so open, there's actually not a lot of standing water unless it pours down," Antonelli told reporters, adding that it was the "roughest track tarmac" he had ever seen.
"But if it rains normally, then it would probably be the best track to try these cars for the first time in the rain because the tarmac is so open that the water just doesn't sit on top of the surface. It actually goes in between the stones. So it makes less risk of aquaplaning."
Tyre supplier Pirelli has warned teams to brace for punishing conditions, describing Sepang's surface as "relatively abrasive" with roughness comparable to Bahrain.
RUSSELL CONCERNED ABOUT TYRE DEGRADATION
But while Antonelli sees opportunity in adversity, his championship rival and team mate George Russell -- who trails by 66 points in second -- is concerned about the circuit's heat-generating properties should the rain stay away.
"The big difference on this circuit compared to other so-called 'yo-yo' circuits is the tyre overheating," Russell said, contrasting Sepang with tracks like Melbourne, Silverstone, Monza and Canada where surface temperatures are more forgiving.
"Here, surface overheating is going to be a huge thing. You'll be overheating the tyres even on the out-lap of a qualifying session. That may make it more challenging to follow closer and to re-attack once you've been overtaken, but that's a total unknown currently."
With Sepang hosting a Formula One race for the first time since 2017 after the governing International Automobile Federation (FIA) moved the Bahrain Grand Prix due to Middle East tensions, no team holds meaningful reference data from the current generation of cars at the circuit.
McLaren's Oscar Piastri said the track "looks like sandpaper" and he too expected a lot of tyre degradation.
"I don't know how much racing or track running there's been recently. And anything that has been, the rain probably washes it off every afternoon anyway," Piastri said.
"So it's going to be a pretty tough weekend for everyone."
Antonelli is looking to bounce back after his "worst weekend" of the season in Baku where he qualified 16th after a crash before salvaging fifth place in the race.
"I didn't really like driving under the limit. I felt a bit too slow. But I think the learning was that sometimes you have to accept these kinds of situations," he said.
"It was the first time where I actually had to tell myself, 'Look, just take the least amount of risk as possible and just take advantage of other people's mistakes and just bring it home.'"
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Sepang; Editing by Ken Ferris)
