Mercedes, Ferrari split tyre strategy for Sepang

F1 tyre supplier Pirelli has allocated the super-soft, soft and medium compounds for the Sepang race, which takes place in blistering heat and high humidity.

Mercedes has chosen to focus on the soft compound, on which the W08 has looked particularly strong on many circuits this year, particularly for world championship leader Lewis Hamilton.

He will have five sets of the yellow-walled rubber available to use in Malaysia, along with seven sets of super-softs and one set of mediums.

Team-mate Valtteri Bottas, who is bidding to overhaul Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel for second place in the championship, will forgo a set of softs in favour of an extra set of mediums.

Ferrari has chosen to focus on the softest available tyres, selecting nine sets of super-softs for Vettel and team-mate Kimi Raikkonen.

They will also have three sets of softs and one set of mediums available each. Red Bull has taken a similar approach to Ferrari for Malaysia, the only difference being Singapore Grand Prix runner up Daniel Ricciardo will have one fewer sets of super-softs available and one extra set of softs to play with.

Williams and McLaren have taken the most aggressive approach to tyre selection for this race, opting to make 10 sets of super-softs available for Felipe Massa, Lance Stroll, Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne, but just two sets of soft tyres for each driver.