If you’ve been waiting for F1 to roar back into Sepang, you may be waiting a while.
Malaysia’s Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh has poured cold water on a Formula 1 return, telling parliament that the price tag simply doesn’t add up. Hosting fees alone would run to around 300 million Ringgit a year (roughly $71m), she said, and any deal with Liberty Media typically ties a promoter in for three to five years. That’s a commitment in the region of 1.5 billion Ringgit — money Yeoh argues could fund development programmes for more than 10,000 Malaysian athletes, twice over.
The door’s not completely shut. Yeoh acknowledged F1’s global pull and said the government would “cooperate” if private backers want to step in through the Sepang International Circuit (SIC). But the message was clear: not on the public tab.
That’s a tough hurdle in today’s market. While government money isn’t an absolute prerequisite, bids without it rarely look robust. Recent attempts elsewhere without state backing have been described by insiders as chaotic and lacking substance. And as Sepang’s own boss admits, the queue to join the calendar is long.
SIC CEO Azhan Shafriman Hanif has been candid about the scale of the task. He called it a “mistake” to let F1 go after 2017 and says getting it back is “very hard.” The numbers underline the point: a quoted $70m race fee per year, plus local setup costs of 10–20 million Ringgit per event, pushing the total north of 300 million Ringgit annually. “A lot of people are queuing so it won’t be easy,” he said, adding that a serious conversation would be needed to make any comeback realistic. For now, his focus is securing MotoGP’s future at the airport-adjacent venue — and avoiding a repeat of losing a blue-riband series on home soil.
Complicating matters further is regional competition. Thailand has moved aggressively with a state-backed street race in Bangkok, green-lighting a 414.4 billion baht ($1.27bn) project that’s targeting a debut in 2028, pending final approval. In a world where F1 can pick from multiple deep-pocketed suitors, sentiment doesn’t swing contracts.
Sepang remains one of the great driver’s circuits and a fan favorite for its brave, balance-testing layout. But romance won’t pay the rights fee. Unless a heavyweight private consortium emerges, Malaysia’s F1 comeback looks like a long-range plan — not a near-term fixture.
