{"id":78259,"date":"2025-08-19T17:29:07","date_gmt":"2025-08-19T17:29:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/78259\/"},"modified":"2025-08-19T17:29:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T17:29:07","slug":"malaysian-gp-return-very-hard-due-to-rising-f1-race-costs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/78259\/","title":{"rendered":"Malaysian GP return ‘very hard’ due to rising F1 race costs"},"content":{"rendered":"

The CEO of the Malaysian Grand Prix circuit has admitted it will be \u201cvery hard\u201d for the event to return due to rising costs of staging a Formula 1<\/a> race.<\/p>\n

Opened in 1999, the Sepang International Circuit<\/a> hosted the race between that year and 2017, when a decline in ticket sales curtailed its place on the calendar.<\/p>\n

Designed by Hermann Tilke, the wide and fast circuit was popular with the fans, complemented by the added drama of the changing and unpredictable weather conditions.<\/p>\n

Despite no longer staging an F1 race, it continues to host top-level motorsport in the form of MotoGP, which it has done since its opening year.<\/p>\n

Quoted by Malaysian newspaper New Strait Times, Azhan Shafriman expressed his regret that the event was scrapped, admitting it was an error to let it happen.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do not want to repeat the mistakes of the past,\u201d he said. \u201cWe let Formula 1 go and now it is very hard to get it back. I hope we don\u2019t make the same mistake with MotoGP.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a waiting list to get back in [for Formula 1] and of course, the costs are very expensive. We were quoted US$70 million race fees [by Liberty Media].<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is for each event [edition of Malaysian GP]. That does not include our setup costs which are in the region of RM10 to RM20 million for each event.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn total, it would cost us more than RM300 million [$71 million] to bring back the race [annually].<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of people [countries] are queuing so it won\u2019t be easy. But if we are really serious about it, then maybe we can start the conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Sepang International Circuit hosted every Malaysian GP for 18 years<\/p>\n

Malaysian government pushing for F1 race return<\/p>\n

Mr Shafriman said that despite the uphill struggles it would face to make a significant push for the event to return, the country\u2019s government is keen to see it happen.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not just SIC that wants Formula 1,\u201d he said. \u201cMany other stakeholders from both the government as well as the corporate sector also want it back,\u201d said Shafriman.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to look at how Singapore is hosting it. They have everyone on board in making it a success, from the ministries to the corporate sector to the hotels. Everybody contributes.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has to be like that if we bring it back here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Shafrimen admitted that, if the race was to make a comeback on the Grand Prix schedule, it would still be a long wait to see any financial return on the decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will take time. Even with MotoGP, it took time for us to increase the ROI,\u201d he said. \u201cThe important thing is that everyone [stakeholders] comes together.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll this while people view MotoGP and Formula 1 as SIC\u2019s events, when they are actually national events.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are at the forefront in terms of managing the thing, branding and so on, but essentially they are Malaysian events.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ MORE \u2013 Will F1\u2019s rotational calendar allow more iconic tracks to return?<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The CEO of the Malaysian Grand Prix circuit has admitted it will be \u201cvery hard\u201d for the event…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":78260,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[1687,372,6537,39890,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-78259","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-f1","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-malaysiangp","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78259","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78259"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78259\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}