F1 Won’t Return To Malaysia, And Here’s Why…

Formula 1 (F1) last raced in Malaysia at SIC back in 2017, ending a uninterrupted hosting run that began back in 1999.

Once again, speculation about the return of Formula One (F1) for a race in Malaysia at the PETRONAS Sepang International Circuit (SIC) has taken the local internet by storm earlier this week.

Said speculation comes right off the heels as SIC’s management officially kick-start promotional efforts for its sole big-ticket annual event, that being the annual Malaysian MotoGP race – officially held as the ‘Petronas Grand Prix of Malaysia’ since 2022.

Official statement issued by SIC earlier today.

Thanks to gross misreporting by certain ‘online media’ outlets, the folks at SIC were duly prompted to firefight this on the PR front by issuing the clarification statement pictured above earlier today. Obviously, there’s not much that can be done at this point, especially given how some ‘media outlets’ have interpreted what SIC’s CEO Azhan Shafriman said recently.

While we won’t delve too much into what exactly the exec said and meant, we’ll instead point out TWO major signs present that clearly indicate that F1 won’t be making a miraculous comeback appearance in Malaysia anytime soon – things many sadly still refuse to accept or admit.

The rights and hosting fee for an F1 race can reach in the hundreds of millions of Ringgits, and it's a bill that the Malaysian government footed without really breaking even.

Firstly, there’s the cost of it all, and it the largest demand for which stems from the fee for rights to host a race itself. Even in the days of the Bernie Ecclestone-led Formula One Management (precursor to current commercial rights owners Liberty Media), this fee alone totalling in the hundreds of millions on Ringgits over a multi-year period.

Obviously, funding and involvement from private corporations isn’t enough to foot this bill. This is exactly why the Malaysian government, via the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Tourism, have stepped up prior by pouring billions of Ringgits between 1999 to 2017 to keep the rights to host the annual Formula 1 Petronas Malaysia Grand Prix.

Despite the promise of this event in spurring increased local tourism when it was the sole Southeast Asian venue before neighbouring Singapore entered the frame with its glitzier – and clearly more profitable – night-time street race event, the Malaysian government simply couldn’t recoup its investments into the rights and hosting fee mentioned.

Sure, we can debate on the root cause to which, but let’s just agree that it fundamentally stems from one basic fact – low attendance. Ultimately, having not even broken even after many years funding it, the Malaysian government had to draw a line at some point. That came in 2017 when SIC hosted F1’s last appearance in Malaysia.

Jazeman Jaafar was arguably Malaysia's last 'real' hopeful to enter F1. A chance came in 2015, but ultimately didn't materialise.

For this, we’ll even add that the absence of Malaysian talents at any level of the sport, be it drivers in the hot seat, technical crew in the garages, or even in the capacity of team management or even owner, simply adds to the argument that the investment isn’t worth it. Whilst on this subject still, the prospect on this front is indeed very bleak so to speak.

We reckon the last real F1 hopeful for Malaysia rested in Jazeman Jaafar. As he recounted in an episode of the Tekan Habis podcast with this writer earlier this year, his one and only chance came in 2015 when he was offered a seat by a then reputable UK-based midfield team for the 2016 season plus an option for 2017.

However, the combination of a tight timeline and the inability to secure a certain corporate sponsor’s commitment saw Jazeman missing his chance. Sadly, with no others like him in tow competing in feeder series like GP2 (now F2) and F3, the hopes of seeing another Malaysian on the F1 grid after Alex Yoong effectively ended here.

So, with no local talent for the Malaysian masses to root for, and a government that no longer has the appetite to spend hundreds of millions (maybe billions) of Ringgits to host a potentially high loss-making sporting event, the return of the now popular again top-tier global formula racing series on Malaysian shores at SIC seems unlikely still.

Yes, should conditions change to convince the government towards reinvesting to host the event annually, and the same government agreeing to perhaps put in equal support to develop the next Alex Yoong or Jazeman Jaafar, F1 could indeed return. However, we don’t foresee any of these changing anytime soon, so this remains a pipe dream still.