Malaysia GP to end after 2018
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will discontinue its Formula One Grand Prix race after 2018 due to falling revenues, a government minister said on Monday, waving the checkered flag on one of Asia’s longestrunning F1 races.
The economic problems besetting the sport are taking too much of a toll and Malaysia will not renew after its current contract expires in two years, Tourism and Culture Minister Nazri Aziz told local media.
The race’s future had been up in the air after officials said last month they were reassessing their commitment to the event amid ebbing television viewership and anaemic ticket sales.
“We spend 300 million ringgit (US$67 million) per year but are not getting 300 million back,” Nazri told state-run Bernama news agency.
“There are no returns on the F1 Grand Prix.”
He noted that attendance had declined despite the high cost of staging the race, which has been held at the Sepang circuit near Kuala Lumpur since 1999.
“I think the people have lost interest,” he said.
The race has faced intensifying competition, particularly from the glittering night Grand Prix in neighbouring Singapore, just as energy-exporting Malaysia has seen its government revenues sapped by weak world oil prices and slowing economic growth.
Formula One races are often run at a loss but they are attractive to many cities because of their prestige and exposure to global audiences.
Malaysian officials have said Sepang, which can accommodate 120,000 fans, drew just 45,000 to last month’s Grand Prix, and added that race-day TV ratings were also poor.
The Sepang race, known for its tropical downpours and sauna-like conditions, is Asia’s second-oldest next to the Japanese Grand Prix, which dates back to 1976.
Daniel Ricciardo won this year’s Malaysia Grand Prix ahead of his Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen.
Meanwhile, Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone said he wants to strike a “long-term” deal with Singapore this year, playing down earlier comments that the city-state is looking to drop its iconic night race.
Ecclestone’s latest statement provide some positive news for Formula One in Southeast Asia, after neighbouring Malaysia confirmed it was dropping its Grand Prix after 2018.
He claimed his initial comments had been taken “in a funny way” by a German auto magazine which quoted him as saying that Singapore no longer wanted to host Formula One.
“F1’s stand is to hopefully continue in Singapore,” the 86-year-old told Singapore’s Straits Times newspaper. “Everybody is happy to be in Singapore and [we] don’t want to lose Singapore.
“Negotiations are ongoing and will be sorted out shortly... before the end of the year, I’m sure. We want to extend long-term. We’ll see what happens.”
Ecclestone has described Formula One’s first night race, which started in 2008 and snakes past Singapore landmarks, as a “crown jewel” of the sport.