Sophia is no stranger to the sweltering heat of the Sepang International Circuit (SIC) paddock, where she has spent her formative years reviewing race data beside her father and fellow racer, Shafiq Samsudin, as well as her mother and team manager, Shasha Shafie.
An exhilarating go-kart ride with her mother when Sophia was just five would turn out to be the moment when the young racer discovered her love for the track.
“I fell in love with it. The sounds, the rush, even the smell of the track - it all just felt right,” she recalled when speaking with Malaysiakini recently.
What began as a playful introduction quickly grew into a passion. By the time most...