KUALA LUMPUR: The Sepang International Circuit (SIC) is not ruling out the possibility of hosting the Formula One (F1) race championship in the future.
SIC chief executive officer, Azhan Shafriman Hanif, who was recently appointed to the role, however, revealed that many factors must be considered including the cost they have to shoulder as hosting F1 does not come cheap.
“It (hosting the F1 again) is not on my top priority at the moment, but if the opportunity comes by and the offer is good, I’m very supportive of this idea because this event (F1) brings the branding part of Malaysia.
“Let’s say if we agree to host the F1 race for a longer period, we will hold a discussion with the government since the hosting fee is not cheap and also the money that we spend must be worthy to the government and also the fans,” he told Bernama, recently.
Malaysia have hosted the F1 race since 1999 before the government decided to stop it in 2017 due to significant declines in returns.
Meanwhile, Azhan Shafriman, who boasts 13 years of experience with national oil giant Petronas, asserted that he will continue to strengthen various motorsports development programmes initiated by his predecessor, Datuk Razlan Razali, who has been given the full-time task as Petronas Yamaha Sepang Racing Team principal.
He also revealed that SIC has identified talented young riders to be absorbed into the programme to mould more local riders who can challenge Italian and also the Spanish riders at international races in the future. – Bernama
