Alonso says F1 racing at Sepang to be more difficult

Kuala Lumpur, Sep 25 (IANS) McLaren Honda's Spanish driver Fernando Alonso said on Monday that the upcoming Formula One World Championship race at the Malaysia Grand Prix would be more difficult.

The two-time world champion explained that the straights in the Sepang circuit, where this weekend's race is to take place, required speed and power, reports Efe news agency.

"Sepang will be more difficult for us in terms of set-up since the straights require good speed and power, but this track is a mixture of a lot of different characteristics, so we'll see how much we can make up on the lower-speed corners," Alonso said in a statement.

He pointed out that the 2018 cars will definitely be faster, so the experience would be fun and he hoped his team could avoid drama.

The Spaniard stressed that he was already eager to get back into the car after the Singapore Grand Prix, where he had to leave the race in the ninth lap due to a loss of power in his car's engine.

"Of course, what happened was disappointing and it's difficult to hide your frustration when you're the victim of someone else's incident," he recalled.

He reiterated that the conditions in Malaysia would be very similar to those in Singapore with challenging heat and humidity for both drivers and cars.

"The configuration will work less in our favor, but of course we will still fight for everything," he insisted.

Alonso added that he is putting all his energy to finish every race in "the best possible position," with six races left.