PETALING JAYA, March 31 — The Sepang International Circuit (SIC) has no plans to host the prestigious Formula One (F1) Grand Prix (GP) in the near future despite interests from certain parties to have it on Malaysian soil again.
SIC chief executive officer Azhan Shafriman Hanif said his team felt it was not the right time to host the F1 race again after taking into account the government’s efforts in helping the people rebuild their lives following the Covid-19 pandemic.
He said SIC also needed to consider several things, especially in terms of budget and support from various parties if the motorsport promoter was offered the opportunity to organise the race in the future.
“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.
“So, when we pay for the relatively high (F1) organising rights, the return should be high overall, not only from the SIC aspect,” he said at a meeting with local media here today.
However, Azhan Shafriman said if there was an offer from F1, the SIC would fully back efforts to bring the race back to Malaysia with support from the government and the private sector.
Earlier, Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu was reported to have said that the government welcomed the help of the private sector to contribute towards bringing back the F1 to the country.
Ahmad Faizal said that efforts to bring back the race would cost over RM200 million.
The F1 was last held at the SIC in 2017, which was the 19th edition since it was first organised at the circuit in 1999.
The three-day race attracted a total of 110,604 spectators, thus surpassing the targeted 102,000 spectators. Of the total, 56,015 attended the actual race day.
In the last edition of the SIC, Red Bull team driver Max Verstappen came out tops, followed by Lewis Hamilton of the Mercedes AMG Petronas and Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull). — Bernama
