Tourism minister Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz, said the F1 race had become too expensive to host, and was not bringing the necessary returns to the country.
Malaysia will no longer host the Formula One Grand Prix (F1) at the Sepang International Circuit (SIC) when its current contract ends in 2018, ending speculation of the race’s fate.
Tourism minister Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz said the F1 race had become too expensive to host, and was not bringing the necessary returns to the country.
Malaysia spends RM300 million a year (US$68.1m) to host the race, and the country was not recouping the money, added Nazri.
According to earlier reports, F1 ticket sales have been declining since the inaugural race in 1999. Sales have fallen by about 10% each year.
TV viewership in Malaysia for this year’s F1 race was also very low.
Instead the country may turn to Motorcycle Grand Prix (MotoGP), the world’s biggest motorcycling event. It recorded 90,000 spectators for this year’s event in late October.
In a related development, Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone has clarified the comments he made to a German magazine, which fuelled speculation that Singapore may not be extending its contract to host the F1 Grand Prix race beyond 2017.
In a phone interview with The Straits Times, Ecclestone was reported as saying, "F1's stand is to hopefully continue in Singapore. Everybody is happy to be in Singapore and (we) don't want to lose Singapore."
German magazine Auto Motor Und Sport had published an interview with Ecclestone who blasted Singapore, among others, for having “no gratitude”.
"Look at what we have done for Singapore. Yes, the Grand Prix has cost Singapore a lot of money, but we've also given them a lot of money," Ecclestone was reported as saying.