SIC chief cites NDA with Liberty Media as speculation grows over Malaysia hosting a Formula One race this October.
THE Sepang International Circuit (SIC) is keeping mum over speculation surrounding Formula One’s (F1) possible return to Malaysia this October.
Its chief executive officer Azhan Shafriman Hanif said the circuit was unable to provide further details at this stage as they are bound to a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) with Liberty Media, the commercial rights holder of F1.
“At the moment, we are still under NDA with F1 (Liberty Media) and can’t provide further comments,” he said in a brief response to Bernama today.
Earlier today, Youth and Sports Minister Dr Mohammed Taufiq Johari in a statement said the ministry is actively holding discussions and conducting assessments on the possibility of hosting the F1 race at SIC to replace the Bahrain Grand Prix (GP) this October.
Dr Mohammed Taufiq said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and the ministry had received early indications of the possibility of Malaysia hosting an F1 race, after the country last staged the event in 2017.
“Any further developments will be announced once they have been finalised,” he said.
Motorsports portal the-race.com reported on Thursday that Malaysia could be included in the F1 calendar at short notice this year if the conflict involving Iran continues to cause disruptions.
In mid-March, the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian races scheduled for April were postponed following the war, reducing this season’s calendar from 24 to 22 races, German news agency dpa reported.
According to the report, if the final two races of the season in Qatar on Nov 29 and Abu Dhabi on Dec 6 cannot proceed due to the conflict in West Asia, F1 management is considering several other options.
Before tensions involving Iran escalated again, organisers had hoped to reschedule the Bahrain GP for the first weekend of October, between the Azerbaijan and Singapore races.
However, that possibility is now seen as increasingly unlikely following renewed tensions between the United States and Iran.
As a result, Malaysia and Turkiye are now among the candidates to host a race on Oct 4, according to the report.
F1 is expected to make an early decision on the proposed race when the championship enters its mid-season break after this weekend’s Hungarian GP in Budapest, before racing resumes at the end of August.
SIC hosted the Malaysian GP from 1999 to 2017 before it was removed from the calendar due to rising hosting costs and licensing fees.
