Sepang’s CEO drops “worrying” hint over prospects of having Malaysian GP in F1
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Malaysian Grand Prix
The CEO of Malaysia’s Sepang Circuit has recently revealed that Formula One’s return to the Malaysian GP is very unlikely and has cited financial reasons behind it.
The first time that an F1 Grand Prix took place at the Sepang circuit was in 1999 when Eddie Irvine won the Grand Prix for the Ferrari F1 team.
Since then the Malaysian GP remained on the Formula One calendar till 2017. The last two races that took place at the Circuit were won by Red Bull via the efforts of Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen.
But the race dropped off the calendar for financial reasons, with falling ticket sales failing to offset the increasing hosting fees.
At that time it was reported by BBC that the introduction of the neighboring Singapore Grand Prix led to the decline in the attendance of the Malaysian Grand Prix.
Recently Formula One has made it a mission to expand the sport to maximum parts of the world and are doing their best to add new venues season after season. China, Qatar, and Las Vegas are all going to be added to the Formula One calendar in 2023 and there is also chatter about Formula One looking to add South Africa as a potential venue for hosting races in the future.
However, the picture for the Malaysian Grand Prix is not as rosy as for the likes of Las Vegas and a few other hosts. It is very unlikely that the Sepang circuit is going to see any Formula One action anytime soon.
Sepang Circuit’s CEO on the prospect of having the Malaysian GP in the future
Azhan Shafriman Hanif the Sepang CEO has recently talked about the situation of the Malaysian GP and has said, “We should look at the big picture holistically, at how F1 can benefit not only the company but also Malaysia in terms of branding, ability to provide employment opportunities, talent development, and others.”
He has further added, “So when we pay for the relatively high [F1] organizing rights, the return should be high overall, not only from the SIC aspect.”
Shafriman Hanif has indicated that after the covid pandemic it was not the right time for them to look at hosting races at the Malaysian International Circuit as the government’s efforts were directed toward helping the people of the country.
Sharfriman Hanif, however, has not ruled out the prospect of having future Formula One races and has indicated that Sepang would be in a good position if the administration at the circuit gets support from the government and the private sector.
Malaysia’s youth and sports minister Datuk Seri Ahmed Faizal Azumu has recently said that it will cost around 200 million ringgits (36 million euros) to bring back the Malaysian GP.
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Rishabh Negi
(3244 Articles Published)