Jenson Button believes today's race in Malaysia will be a real test of drivers who will have to contend with tropical heat and humidity and forecasts of a monsoon-style storm which could wreak havoc with the new wet-weather tyres supplied by Pirelli.
Button said even if stayed dry, the tyres had low-wear performance and the Sepang circuit was very tough on tyres.
The main issue is the wet tyres are liable to degrade on a drying track.
Two years ago the Malaysian Grand Prix was stopped after 31 laps by a torrential afternoon storm, while last year's qualifying session on Saturday was upset by rain and caused Ferrari and McLaren teams to make errors of judgement for strategy of the race ahead.