Malaysia mulls co-hosting F1 with another country every few years

Malaysia hosted the Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix from Oct 2 to 4 after the race was moved from Bahrain because of the conflict in West Asia. (Bernama pic) KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is considering hosting Formula 1 races every few years in partnership with another country, instead of holding the event annually, says youth and sports minister Dr Taufiq Johari.

Responding to Syahredzan Johan (PH-Bangi), Taufiq said Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim had held preliminary discussions with F1's CEO, Stefano Domenicali, and management about bringing the major motorsport event back to Malaysia.

"There is also a proposal to hold the race once every few years in cooperation with another country. This is still at an early stage, and we need to assess its feasibility," he told the Dewan Rakyat.

Taufiq said a committee involving several ministries and the chief secretary was assessing the costs and economic benefits of hosting the F1 Grand Prix.

A report will be prepared by November for the Cabinet to decide whether Malaysia should host the race again, he added.

Taufiq said hosting F1 was expensive, and Putrajaya needed to evaluate whether this year’s strong turnout could be repeated annually.

He also said bringing back F1 must not affect funding for athletes and other sports.

Malaysia hosted the Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix from Oct 2 to 4 after the race was moved from Bahrain because of the conflict in West Asia. It marked F1’s return to Sepang for the first time since the Malaysian Grand Prix ended in 2017.

The three-day event attracted 261,000 spectators, including 103,000 on race day. More than 97,000 tickets were sold, while the government estimated that the event generated nearly RM950 million in economic activity.

Replying to Wan Hassan Ramli (PN-Dungun) earlier, Taufiq said Malaysia had only two months to prepare for the race.

He credited government agencies for its success but said improvements were needed in public transport, traffic management and spectator facilities.