Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia declared heat-hazard race

Formula 1 drivers will race in extreme heat this weekend after the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia was declared a heat-hazard race.

The designation, confirmed on 30 September, applies to Sunday's race at the Sepang track near Kuala Lumpur. The event keeps the Bahrain Grand Prix name but is being staged in Malaysia after it was postponed from its original April date because of the war in the Middle East, according to BBC.

A heat hazard is an official FIA status used when temperatures are forecast to top 31C at some point during the race. The forecast for Sepang is 31-33C across the weekend, with high humidity and a chance of rain every day.

It will be brutal in the cockpit. Temperatures inside an F1 car can push past 40C, with drivers strapped in, wearing fireproof overalls, gloves and helmets, wrestling heavy steering loads for almost two hours.

That is why the declaration matters. Under heat-hazard rules, drivers can use an in-car cooling system that pumps cooled liquid such as glycol through pipes in a fireproof vest worn under their overalls. Think of it as wearable air conditioning, built to keep core body temperature down.

Use of the system is not mandatory. Drivers who choose not to race with it must instead carry 5kg of ballast, extra weight added to keep the cars equal. The FIA's sporting rules still require all parts of the driver cooling system to be fitted to the car at the start, whether the driver switches it on or not.

This is the third heat-hazard declaration this season, after the Austrian and Italian Grands Prix earlier this year. The rule was only introduced last year, after the cooling-vest technology was developed.

For fans, this means comfort and safety rather than a change to the racing itself. The grid will look the same. The lap times will look the same. The difference is what the drivers are wearing underneath, and how much the heat takes out of them by the chequered flag.