Malaysia has been a part of the F1 calendar since 1999, but ticket sales to the races have been on the decline since 2014, according to local report. Formula 1’s fate in Malaysia is now in question, according to Sepang International Circuit (SIC) CEO Datuk Razlan Razali, following discussions next week with the Ministry of Finance, which is SIC’s key shareholder.
Sales have consistently fallen 10% each year, while initial reports showed that TV viewership of the sport in Malaysia was the “lowest in history,” according to Razlan. “In contrast, the Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix (MotoGP) looks more promising in terms of attracting spectators and its potential spillover effects,” he added.
Contrasting with F1’s spectatorship decline is MotoGP, the world’s premier motorcycle championship, which continues to see growth. “Last year we saw 85,000 spectators for our MotoGP. This year, as all the tickets have already been sold out, we target a record 90,000 spectators, inclusive of from the hill stands,” explained Razlan.
“Moving forward, if all parties collaborate, inclusive of the ministries of tourism, sports and communication, we may improve further,” Razlan concluded. First hosted in Batu Tiga, Shah Alam from 1991 and then in Pasir Gudang, Johor, Sepang has been home to the Malaysian round of MotoGP since 1999.
However, there will be no rush to issue an official statement on Malaysia’s exit from the F1 calendar as of yet, as SIC has a “watertight agreement” with the sport’s licence holders until 2018. Circuit management also clarified that no decision about the Malaysian F1 Grand Prix will be made this week. Only the renewal of the MotoGP licence, which expires this year, is expected to be finalised so soon.
So, what do you think of this – do you want F1 to stay?
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no big deal, there’s always a Singapore GP next door..
Sepang is the Nurburgring of Asia. \O/\o/\O/
With no competition from MY and if really losing money, SG GP will follow suit to kolos shop.
on 2nd thought, probably SG GP will kolos sooner than us cuz their economy is shittier than MY now.
ya la, you rich ma, always go singapore to look for hot chick
when SIC appoint SG another round, this is expected to happened already…SG position as city challenge but Sepang just another circuit…
I would have complain and challenge SIC in court in fact by creating this in the first place but Sepang wait till this day..
motor is more excited la, we can host the mat rempit race at night there. F1 is burning money business, scrap it la.
If you don’t have anything constructive to offer, just shut up.
F1= irrelevant. Not as glamorous as before and the rules, so called rules, have made the “sport” unnecessarily complicated and boring.
What happened to the old days where the driver skill makes the difference? Maybe it does in modern F1 but who, other than true nerds will appreciate it?
I’ve stop watching it a long long time ago.
Spot on! The new rules now make drivers focus more on saving tyres and fuels instead of going faster, take risks to win the race.
Going to the circuit to watch the race is about enjoying the atmosphere and the unique F1 engine sounds. But now the race is so predictable and FIA cutting down the number of cylinder from V12 to V6 and soon maybe I4, what’s the point of spending few hundreds ringgit and a hot day at the Sepang Circuit?
Yes please! make F1 stay at least until the next PM! lol..
That’ll be a long time…
F1 stay. PM must stay too!
Not enough promotion of the event. Except for F1 fans, the Malaysian public don’t even know the dates of F1 race being held in Sepang.
It is such a shame that this is happening when a team sponsored by Petronas is doing so well in F1.
It is one of the wisest decision ever made.
yea, good pocket money for you
no big deal, can watch Singapore GP on TV
Sir, don’t limit yourself to only the lion city race. Literally, you can catch every F1 race on Astro sports channel. Madam macam ada…
Why U worry
No Malaysian F1 driver! Evn a test F1 driver..
Good, possibly after 2018, SIC can host Formula -E races in Sepang Circuit… To be Honest…F1 has become much of a Bore…too many rules, ugly cars, crappy engines and predictable results; it seems to be an event for Actors, Wealthy VIPs to ‘show off’ rather than it is about the actual race…really miss the V10 engine roar of yore….sigh….!!
Formula-E is interesting to watch. Open Race…
silent speeders…
No problem…please proceed…F1 is fast becoming one of the most boring sports ever…
MotoGP is no doubt the biggest motorsport event on earth while F1 is unfortunately going downwards in terms popularity. MotoGP is a showcase of both technology and human (the riders) skill & bravery delivered at thrilling and deafening noise. F1 has the technology but less than 50% of the skill & bravery and the noise..
The only way for F1 to prosper and gaining back audience attention is to dumb down the car’s technology : reduce the complexity of the hybrid thingy, allow for different engine configurations (4,6,8 cylinder engines), bigger tyres (they will implement this one) & control the aero development. Mercedes-Benz of course will not be impressed with these..
Bring Indy car to Malaysia!
The interest in the sport in general is dropping, this is because Formula 1 has traditionally been ‘snobbish’ towards its fans where decent access to the sport is only given to those who pony up quite a bit of cash…People put up with that for decades because the cars and the competition was interesting but the competition is so biased towards factory backed team these days even mighty ‘privateer’ teams such as Mclaren. Red Bull and Williams cannot simply compete even with the all the cash and resources simply because they do not ( and cannot) have hundreds and hundreds of engineers from various ‘divisions’ helping to tackle the latest ridiculous FIA rule like actual carmakers have.
The lack of access and excitement have brought the sport down to its knees..and now it’s just become a place where celebs and people with contacts chill and watch the race (for free I may add) as the general public realise that it does not give good value anymore…
They have failed to remember it’s because of the fans that they can spend that much money in the first place..and no..when I said fan, I didn’t mean some local model looking to snag a driver or people with the right contacts…the fan that keeps F1 going is Mr Avarage Joe who brought his wife and 3 children to watch the race Or Average Jane who has brought all her friends from uni/work to watch the race…they are not coming to it anymore…and that’s why your sport is dying…They should learn from NASCAR (or any American sport for that matter) on how to keep fans happy…
I am not a F1 fan, btw it is not solely a numbers game but also revenue streams e.g MB may be more profitable than Proton although their sales numbers are relatively smaller in Malaysia.
who wants to come malaysia for F1 when other countries has got more exciting offering besides their F1 event?
At least don’t make 2016 the last race cos no chance to go watch it. If they do want to drop it, should go with a bang and promote it as the last one. So that shld be in 2017. Using taxpayers money is understandably wasteful. Same reason the German, Italian and Canadian GP is under threat. Or at least wait until 2017 to decide, cos next year will have a new formula, and I suspect the silver arrows won’t be leading anymore. Seems like Red Bull and McLaren have improved tremendously in 2016. Even though McLaren hasn’t got a podium in 2016, if they continue improving at this rate, they’ll be up there with Ferrari in 2017.
I’ve been to Sepang for F1 races in 2012..Yes, indeed it is boring. Eventhough the atmosphere is great, but nothing to shout about rather than loud F1 engine. For moto GP it is different story altogether, it makes my adrenaline rushed when the racer try to get to each other in pole position.
Don’t just talk about ticket sales. There are a whole lot more to the F1 than just revenue from tickets. It is suppose to attract foreigners, while watching F1, spend a few days boast our tourism dollar.
We have the ingredient to have one of the exciting races in the calender. The monsoon rain, the heat and humidity, all call for a very technical and interesting race. How many races you see has a wet race?
Just some small incompetent people running the show and only thinking ticket sales that make it unsuccessful.
It needs to be advertised, way before so that travellers can mark their calenders. Go team up with MAS or Airsia and some hotel deals for that calender month. Make it big. And stop arguing about whether beyonce is too sexy to perform for the opening.
Come on Malaysia! Get your act together!
Someone who see things as it is.. thumbs up
The fact of the matter is, the ticket prices are still too expensive for many Malaysians no matter which way you look at or how hard you try to justify it. Only hardcore fans are willing to spend the money for tickets and I’m sure they do get what they pay for and probably more. But for the rest, they prefer taking their family to resorts or legoland.
F1 isn’t what it used to be.
back in the day,
* malaysia was first asian venue outside of japan – now we got shanghai, singapore, and sometime south korea in this side of asia. then there’s also russia, bahrain, abu dhabi on the other side of asia
* watching f1 is quite exciting because it depends on drive skills + team skill. now, not so much because they curtail the high end teams to give the smaller team a chance
* too many f1 venue in a year. used to be 12-15 a year so it’s an occasion, now it’s 20+, so fatigue just trying to keep up the races. in the end, it affects team money for promotion. hence why every year, the f1 celebration in malaysia is getting smaller and smaller.
* f1 taking a lot of money. one reason silverstone quit f1 because f1 company ask too much money. that’s why the ticket price is so damn expensive.
* f1 isn’t the pushing the envelop event like it used to be. personally, i prefer the le mans, the rules are a bit board, so you see a lot of teams comes up with creative solution to the same problem. over in f1, it’s almost everybody is the same because the rules are so tight.
so yes, f1 is not what it used to be. i prefer if SIC bring back the merdeka millennium race, but from what i understand, they don’t have enough mechanics/personal to host the event.
personally, the le mans is more exciting to watch because it’s truly man + machine working to beat the clock and other teams. and their cars is more relatable than f1. and they are not afraid to experiment. we got a guy w/ no legs and arms racing. a car that looks like a bat mobile. couldn’t see such things in f1.
They have been giving out too many free tickets. Like that Robert Kuok also cannot tahan.
At last, the cost of holding a F1 race have reached the point of NO return ie, its not tenable or profitably for its “investment”.
Like Mikey said, its the wisest decision as the Return Of Investment(ROI) does Not justify its means.
The scheduling change is making Sepang F1 less relevant, most people will only go to one race ie. Sepang or Singapore and people end up in Singapore instead.
I would like the Sepang racetrack to be opened to the public a lot more though.
F1 is so noisy, close down the Sepang F1 Race track and build a golf course.
pls closed down golf course, as use too much land to entertainment orang kaya. Better use the land to build budget household. :P
Ditch it. It’s no longer unique and less attractive especially with Singapore in the circus as well. Now with Thailand also eyeing to hold a round, better we move on to something else.
If the sepang f1 round is irrelevant, the Petronas sponsorship of Mercedes is irrelevant too. The low spectator numbers is caused by the dates that are too near to the singaporean round. Dropping or even the thought of dropping of high visibility events like the f1 is a clear sign of the financial problems that the government is going through.
I was at the Malaysian GP few weekends back and even in the uber-expensive grandstand seats and Lewis Hamiltons pit a shout away in front of me, I left less than enthusiastic. Formula One has been predicatable for quite some years since the V10 era. Even with cars being the very pinnacle of speed and technological achievement, rarely there’s any surprise with Lawyers and internal-politics the real hoo-haa for F1. It’s more celebrity buzz than Motorsport. Le Mans is more of what F1 was, with team playing every technological card they can with drivers being less of a walking bill board.
I despise two wheels with a passion so I won’t comment on weather Moto GP will succeed F1 as the premier Motorsport in Malaysia. But it’ll give aspiring Mat Rempits more passion to find ways to end their pethatic existence.
When Singapore GP is about to start, SIC warn don’t put back to back with Sepang. Few years later, they change the tone. Holding F1 in August will give more time to promote the race. It turned out it’s not the case. F1 spectators is falling & Singapore GP is accelerate it further. Lots of F1 fans from Singapore is not going to Sepang anymore. Local spectators also in falling as disposable income is not same as before.
The thing is, Sg GP is also suffering with lower turn out this year.. F1 has simply been to boring for people to watch, be it live at the scene or on TV.
No problem just proceed.
None of us get the benefit of F1 I believe other than expensive Hobby.
only 1 or 2 of us can drive this car.
Did they implement this technology in your cheap car? No its not.
its only about branding.
Anyone ever wondered why Singapore F1 can be so successful?
Imagine if Thailand manage to hold a F1 race in Phuket.
F1 is not just about those cars going round and round a circuit. F1 is a circus. The nicer the circus, the better it will be.
The only night F1 race in Asia / world.
Is Sg F1 considered successful this year? I read somewhere that they are also suffering with lower turnout (about 20%) compared to previous year.
Sepang circuit main issue is lack of Public transport, specially F1 many spectators if from oversea, always having issue on transportation.
Also parking cost.
If me i will study how we can built rail service. my idea is Putra Height Cyberjaya Dengki Mitsui Outlet park KLIA/KLIA2 SIC–> Sendayan Seremban KTM service.
Bring the WRC please!!
“Moving forward, if all parties collaborate, inclusive of the ministries of tourism, sports and communication, we may improve further,” Razlan concluded. = then why don’t you do the same for F1?
No Action – Talk Only…. *common Malaysial culture
I believe a lot can be done to boost the attendance and ticket sales. For example, to provide discounts to make it more affordable to the general public. Every darn thing is getting more and more expensive in Msia, so buying a F1 ticket will not the top of the priority list, even for the most hardcore F1 fan.
Our beloved Gov is constantly asking us to change our lifestyle to survive, so many will not be able to afford such luxury even in our own backyard. So sad
Nope.. F1 races nowadays are quite boring compared to 5-10 years ago. There are simply too many races (20+) this year.
Another thing, no discount should be given at all.. Do you think people will go even if the ticket price is lowered by whole lot. I doubt general population would spend even RM50 to watch F1 nowadays when they can do it over the TV. No more hype on F1.
yup, might as well scrap all the internation motorsports event and organize local motorsport…..RempitGP perhaps?
Stop F1. This is entirely political decision.
stop yourself. apalah lu, everything related to politic! WTH
if you want to ditch the f1 even in malaysia, at least bring in the WEC…
Formula 1 is getting a bit boring with all the technical rules and regulations. Leave Formula 1 and bring back Formula E
Let’s have Rempit GP. Malaysia surely becoming world champion……
No Marney. Ikat perut
Motogp is more relevant and affordable to our motoring crowd here. Further more it is much more exciting then F1. The race is tight even to the last corner. I have stopped watching F1 years ago.