P1racenews AI automatic summary:
Sepang Circuit’s chief executive believes dropping the F1 race was a costly mistake – and bringing it back would cost over $70 million a year.
The head of Sepang International Circuit admitted that Malaysia made a mistake by discontinuing its annual Formula 1 race, which started in 1999. Due to high costs and declining returns, Malaysia removed the event from the calendar in 2017. Since then, Formula 1 has seen a surge in global popularity under Liberty Media, making it challenging for Malaysia to reclaim a spot on the calendar.
The CEO of Sepang, Azhan Shafriman Hanif, expressed regret over losing the Malaysian GP and highlighted the steep $71 million cost to rejoin F1. As MotoGP became the flagship event at Sepang, plans are underway to secure its future with a new contract from Dorna Sports until the late 2020s. There is a shared desire among stakeholders to bring back Formula 1 to Malaysia, inspired by the success of the Singapore Grand Prix.
While acknowledging the time-consuming process of making F1 races profitable, Shafriman emphasized the need for unity among stakeholders to ensure success in hosting major events. Sepang aims to manage both MotoGP and F1 races effectively, as they are viewed as national events backed by various sectors in Malaysia.
