KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia on Thursday ruled out Formula One returning to the country in the near future, citing costs and an already packed racing calendar.
The Southeast Asian nation first hosted an F1 race in 1999 at its Sepang International Circuit, with the last grand prix held there in 2017.
Malaysia dropped out of the F1 calendar from 2018 amid the rising costs of hosting the event.
Sepang still annually stages MotoGP motorbike racing.
Sports minister Hannah Yeoh said hosting F1 again would require the Malaysian government to pay about 300 million ringgit ($71.09 million) annually.
Beyond hosting rights, Yeoh said the circuit requires about 10 million ringgit a year to maintain to the required standards for top-level motor racing.
“Malaysia must also bind itself to a contract of between three to five years with Liberty Media (which holds F1’s commercial rights), amounting to a commitment of about 1.5 billion ringgit during this period,” she told parliament on Thursday.
“The current race calendar is very tight and if Malaysia is interested in hosting again, we will have to compete with other countries for a place on the calendar,” she added.
In the region, Singapore stages a night race and Thailand hopes to become the latest host.
The Thai cabinet in June approved a $1.2 billion bid to stage F1 on the streets of Bangkok from 2028.
Yeoh said Malaysia is not shutting the door completely on having F1 races again, if any corporate entities were willing to shoulder the costs.
“We are open to this and can cooperate,” she added.
“The Formula 1 is a very prestigious sporting event that is followed by many fans around the world.
“So if we could afford it, it’s a good-to-have event in Malaysia.”
Malaysia rules out return of F1 over costs
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Malaysia rules out return of F1 over costs
- Malaysia on Thursday ruled out Formula One returning to the country in the near future, citing costs and an already packed racing calendar
Newcastle complete cruise into Champions League last 16
- The Magpies will make up a six-strong contingent of English sides in the last 16 alongside Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester City and Tottenham
NEWCASTLE, United Kingdom: Newcastle United completed their stroll into the Champions League last 16 with a 3-2 win over Qarabag on Tuesday to progress 9-3 on aggregate over the Azeri champions.
The Magpies will make up a six-strong contingent of English sides in the last 16 alongside Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester City and Tottenham.
A tie that involved an over 5,000-mile (8,000 kilometer) round trip for both sides was killed off inside 45 minutes last week as Newcastle led 5-0 at half-time on their way to a 6-1 rout.
That allowed Eddie Howe to heavily rotate his side, with four-goal hero from the first leg Anthony Gordon among those left on the bench.
Newcastle still made another fast start to add to their lead twice inside six minutes.
Sandro Tonali fired in the rebound after Dan Burn’s shot was saved before Joelinton stroked in Harvey Barnes’ cross.
Qarabag had taken the scalps of Benfica and Eintracht Frankfurt in the league phase to make the play-off round and at least salvaged some pride with two goals in the second half.
Camilo Duran outpaced Burn to pull a goal back before the Newcastle defender was penalized for handball inside the box.The Magpies will make up a six-strong contingent of English sides in the last 16 alongside Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester City and Tottenham.
Aaron Ramsdale saved Marko Jankovic’s penalty but Elvin Jafarguliyev netted the rebound.
In between the visitors’ two goals, Sven Botman powered in a header from a corner.
That took the tally of goals conceded by Qarabag in the Champions League to 30 — a single season record in the competition.
