Malaysian Grand Prix: Sepang to drop off F1 calendar after 19 years of racing

By Andrew BensonChief F1 writer

Last updated on .From the section Formula 1comments84

Jenson Button
Jenson Button took top spot on the podium at Sepang during his 2009 World Championship campaign

The Malaysian Grand Prix will be the country's last after 19 years on the Formula 1 calendar.

The decision, announced by F1 commercial boss Sean Bratches, comes after the country's government questioned the value of the race.

The American said that the F1 calendar would have 21 races in 2018, despite the loss of the south-east Asian event.

The French Grand Prix returns after a 10-year absence and Germany is back on after dropping off in 2017.

Malaysia was in the vanguard of the new races that came to define Bernie Ecclestone's final years in charge of the sport.

A state-of-the-art facility was built and the race funded with government money as the country sought to make a name for itself on the global stage.

Similar events followed the same pattern in Bahrain, China, Abu Dhabi, Russia and Azerbaijan.

Malaysia had struggled in recent years to attract a significant crowd, its appeal damaged by the more glamorous night-time event on a street track in Singapore, which made its debut in 2008.

It was confirmed in November that the race would end after the 2018 staging, but that decision has now been brought forward.

The country's prime minister, Najib Razak, said: "The Cabinet has agreed to end the contract after considering lowering returns to the country compared to the cost of hosting the championships."

Michael Schumacher and Eddie Irvine
Eddie Irvine and Michael Schumacher took a Ferrari one-two at the first Malaysian Grand Prix

Comments

Join the conversation

These comments are now closed.

84 comments

  • Comment posted by AndyB_MOT, at 08:23 7 Apr 2017

    Great to have France and Germany back but Sepang was a decent circuit for one of the newer tracks and has hosted some good races - often with unpredictable weather! I'd have preferred to see Russia, Bahrain or Abu Dhabi dropped.

  • Comment posted by felixstowe_jak, at 09:27 7 Apr 2017

    Nice to see some of the original Countries getting their race back instead of those Countries that just buy the race. Even more good news as well Bernie going.

  • Comment posted by U15163761, at 07:51 7 Apr 2017

    Shame - one of the few decent 'new' tracks.

  • Comment posted by DMA, at 10:09 7 Apr 2017

    I'm not surprised by this and I hope it's not the last of these pointless Bernie ventures to go. Azerbaijan should never have been considered to host a GP whilst both Bahrain and Abu Dhabi should go as well

    Meanwhile France and Germany should have always kept their GPs whilst other traditional curcuits such as South Africa and Portugal should also be considered in being reintroduced

  • Comment posted by Inmyopinion, at 09:32 7 Apr 2017

    great to see two European classic races back on the calendar... not before time.

  • Comment posted by U16115807, at 09:48 7 Apr 2017

    If the China GP is further affected by smog, shouldn't that go too?

  • Comment posted by allisonmcalpine, at 10:58 7 Apr 2017

    go back to Europe!!!
    and terrestrial tv!!

  • Comment posted by greenlegend, at 08:38 7 Apr 2017

    It will be good to have Germany and France back on the calendar but I hope Magny Cours is not in the frame. Yes, Russia should be dropped - not just the race either. Bahrain, Abu Dhabi and Baku should never have appeared. Shame to lose Malaysia.
    5 F1Knowledge - that's a bit petty, isn't it?

  • Comment posted by Ardent Lunatic, at 11:17 7 Apr 2017

    Let's face it... if Bernie had still been around, this would have been an entirely different statement. "Malaysia replaced with new track in Syria", with Bernie and Assad patting each other on the back and exchanging thick manila envelopes.
    Great news about France and Germany back on the calendar. Shame they couldn't pull the Sepang track up and relocate it elsewhere; good setup, wrong location.

  • Comment posted by hilpertonian, at 08:31 7 Apr 2017

    A shame to lose a decent track but good that F1 (even if its hand was forced) is moving back towards countries with strong interest in F1.

  • Comment posted by hawklord, at 15:13 7 Apr 2017

    Now let's bring back Zandvoort

  • Comment posted by dolbain, at 10:03 7 Apr 2017

    The only good Tilke circuit...
    So glad France returns!
    Go Liberty, clean-up the mess.
    Now please remove Baku, it's a travesty of a race to promote a regime.
    I would love to see F1 back in Portugal, Portimao circuit is awesome and brand new!!

  • Comment posted by U13940813, at 08:01 7 Apr 2017

    Bernie never had an eye on the longevity of these tracks just their earning potential, which is obviously an important part of any business but detracts from the sport somewhat

  • Comment posted by whyone, at 11:39 7 Apr 2017

    It is still possible to visit the Malaysian GP from the UK (incl. travel and hotel) more cheaply than a weekend in the grandstands at Silverstone.

  • Comment posted by disgustedofwells, at 08:44 7 Apr 2017

    5. Posted by F1Knowledge
    Crikey! The chef f1 writer dissent even know what a podium is!

    Er...no, that would be you. Look it up on F1 Wiki. The drivers get a podium position, on the 3 step podium. There is a seperate 1 step podium for the winning Constructor's presentation. Your assertion is wrong, and you have sadly drawn me into contention for this years "Pedants Podium Position"

  • Comment posted by U16662181, at 09:38 7 Apr 2017

    Glad that 2 European races are coming back, hopefully they get rid of china and baku next

  • Comment posted by Jimv76, at 09:18 7 Apr 2017

    The other thing being that they get larger crowds for the MotoGP round they host, and makes more financial sense to dump the loss making F1 and focus on what they make money out of.

  • Comment posted by veggiehouse, at 08:13 7 Apr 2017

    Does anyone really care? I, along with lots of people I know, used to be glued to the TV watching the excitement of F1. I've just been trying to think of who I know who still watches and I can't think of one person. I don't know why - it's just how it is.

  • Comment posted by Martin, at 12:09 7 Apr 2017

    No surprise that someone in government has realised what they had wasn't value for money. Shame because it was one of the better new tracks but for Ecclestone it was always about screwing every bit of cash out of governments, which has proved successful for him, but unless the new owners are going to be more partners than dictators then expect more tracks to follow suit.

  • Comment posted by Lucy, at 09:17 7 Apr 2017

    Shame to see it go there's been some good racing there, they need to get rid of the races which exist purely to stroke the egos of that counties leader, i.e. Russia, Azerbaijan and the one is the middle east.

Top Stories

Featured

Elsewhere on the BBC