The Bahrain GP last week showed Sepang can still deliver an F1 spectacle, but transport woes exposed shortcomings off the track. The question is whether Malaysia can make a permanent return viable, say experts.
JOHOR BAHRU: Comedian Gajen Nad went to Sepang expecting to spend three days watching some of the fastest cars in the world. But when he saw the snaking queues for shuttle buses ferrying F1 fans to and from the circuit, he decided his own two feet would be faster.
Over three days, from Oct 2 to Oct 4 he clocked more than 40km, walking along busy highways and through palm oil plantations in the sweltering heat, even encountering a snake along the way.
Gajen had been travelling from various park-and-ride facilities, where spectators could leave their vehicles and take shuttle buses to the circuit. But faced with waits of up to two hours, he and a handful other spectators chose to make the journey on foot instead.
“The biggest issue is there is poor crowd management so the organisation is just a mess,” said the 36-year-old.
“Some spectators waited an hour and a half to board these buses, and then they were stuck in a traffic jam for more than an hour. It took them roughly three hours to get to the circuit,” he added.
It was a rough start to Malaysia’s first F1 weekend in nine years, with transport problems frustrating fans and exposing gaps in Sepang’s readiness. But organisers improved the system over the following days, while record crowds of more than 250,000 ultimately packed the circuit.
High turnout and a thrilling race showed that Sepang can still deliver the spectacle F1 demands. But the transport problems exposed shortcomings in the fan experience, while the estimated RM300 million (US$73.41 million) annual cost of hosting a Malaysian Grand Prix remains a hurdle, said experts.
The weekend may have strengthened Malaysia’s case for an F1 comeback but it remains to be seen if a permanent return to the F1 calendar is viable, they added.
Malaysia hosted the Bahrain Grand Prix after the original race could not go ahead in April due to the Iran war and the situation in the Middle East.
Spectators on Sunday (Oct 4) were rewarded with a wet and action-filled race, as Sepang once again showed why its wide track, challenging corners and unpredictable weather have long made it a favourite among drivers and fans.
Ultimately, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won, despite an early setback when he lost his pole position before turn one. The race also saw Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton clawing back third despite a tyre gamble that had dropped the Brit down to 18th at the start of the race.
Razlan Razali, who was chief executive for the Sepang International Circuit between 2008 and 2020, told CNA that the weekend showed that the circuit remains capable of producing the kind of racing F1 purists love, but the spectator experience must be improved with better planning.
“I think it’s sad how the organisers lost control of the logistics, and this matters a lot because some of those impacted will simply say this is going to be their last visit (to Sepang),” said Razlan, who was managing the Malaysia Grand Prix when it was a fixture on the F1 calendar between 2009 and 2019.
“It’s not clear whether Malaysia’s performance as hosts (over last weekend) gives any hope of it making a case (for a) permanent fixture (for the F1 season again),” he added.
TRAFFIC CHAOS AVOIDABLE - BUT ARE RECORD CROWDS REPEATABLE?
The transport problems were laid bare on social media, as spectators described hours-long journeys to Sepang despite free shuttle buses running from Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) Terminal 2, Mitsui Outlet Park and Bandar Baru Enstek.
British content creator Joe Liley posted a video showing long queues at KLIA, which he said stretched around the “entire airport” perimeter and “into the carparks”.
He said it took him four hours to get from his hotel in Kuala Lumpur to his grandstand seat.
Other spectators reported journeys of between three hours and six hours, with some describing passengers jostling to board buses amid poor signage and unclear queue management.
Experts told CNA that such problems should have been anticipated, given organisers knew how many spectators were expected and could plan the movement of crowds accordingly.
Hafiz Hanafiah, a professor of tourism economics at Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) in Selangor, said the episode also risked damaging Malaysia’s reputation, even though Bahrain played a key role in organising the race.
“Very few understand that it's Bahrain who is in charge of organisation and they associate the negativity with the hosts Malaysia. What happened has reflected badly on Malaysia and (impacted) Malaysia’s image,” he told CNA.
Former Sepang International Circuit chief executive Razlan Razali said the venue had handled hundreds of thousands of spectators at previous events without attracting criticism over transport and crowd management on this scale.
“There are now spillover concerns for Sepang Circuit and whether it can continue to host the MotoGP which will be held in end October,” said Razlan, a former team principal of the now-defunct RNF MotoGP Racing Team.
Sepang is currently contracted to host MotoGP until 2031.
Yet the crowds that overwhelmed the transport system also offered one of the strongest arguments for an F1 comeback.
Around 261,000 spectators attended the Bahrain Grand Prix over three days, smashing Sepang’s previous F1 record of 126,690 set at the 2008 Malaysian Grand Prix.
Ticket prices ranged from roughly RM200 to RM2,313.
Razlan said F1's audience had changed significantly during Malaysia’s nine-year absence, helped by the popularity of Netflix documentary series “Drive to Survive” and the F1 movie, starring Brad Pitt.
“There has been an entire generation of new fans who are now following the sport and this helps to sell tickets,” he said.
But whether those numbers can be sustained is another question.
Experts said last weekend benefitted from circumstances unlikely to be repeated every year: the nostalgia surrounding F1’s return to Sepang as well as the novelty of Bahrain staging its Grand Prix in Malaysia.
Hafiz expects attendance to fall if Sepang becomes a regular fixture on the calendar, pointing to Malaysia’s previous F1 experience of spectator numbers declining over time.
“At the end of the day we have to look at whether this level of interest can be sustained,” he said.
THE RM300 MILLION QUESTION
Experts said that the biggest obstacle of whether Malaysia can host the Grand Prix on a more permanent basis hinges on whether the government can afford the financing.
Last weekend was a favourable experiment for Malaysia because Bahrain paid the roughly US$70- $US80 million hosting fee, while Malaysia forked out between US$10 million and US$16 million to prepare Sepang, and fund other local operational costs.
The Malaysia government had previously estimated that a permanent return to F1, all in, would cost RM300 million annually. Then-Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh said in 2025 that Putrajaya had no plans to renew hosting the sport due to the high costs involved and the number of races already in the region.
The amount must be paid to US corporation Liberty Media which owns the exclusive commercial rights to the F1 championship.
However following last week’s relative success, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim was more sanguine, saying that Malaysia was in talks to bring back the GP as a permanent fixture for F1.
He cautioned, however, that efforts regarding the matter would "take time", given F1's crowded calendar and existing contractual commitments to other host countries.
Meanwhile, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, the president of F1’s governing body the International Automobile Federation, said that Malaysia would need a minimum five-year business plan covering the commercial, promotional and logistical requirements of hosting the race if it wants it to make a permanent return.
Tourism economics academic Hafiz told CNA that this ambition would mean Malaysia would need to lock into a five-year contract which means a more than a RM1.5 billion commitment, taking into account operational costs as well.
“I’m not saying it’s not worth using taxpayers money, but at the end of the day if there is no proper standardised, structured business plan, I think we are doomed if we think we can just (jump into) organising the event years in advance,” he said.
He cited how the event could potentially bring annual returns of more than RM1 billion through a multiplier effect across hotel chains, restaurants and other tourism-linked companies.
However, Hafiz cautioned that this spending should not fully go back to the government.
He suggested instead following the model from Singapore, where the government does not bear the full costs. Singapore's F1 model is a public-private partnership between the government - represented by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) - and private race promoter Singapore GP (SGP), with the event also backed by a network of corporate sponsors.
“Singapore also has an accompanying number of business events and music concerts clustered before and after the event so people are coming for various other reasons as well,” said Hafiz, adding that Malaysia could perhaps consider doing the same to increase its value proposition for tourists.
However, Razlan added that convincing Liberty Media to squeeze a Malaysia GP into its busy calendar is challenging given that the Southeast Asian country is not a major market for F1 to penetrate, as neighbouring country Singapore is already on the lineup.
He added that F1 is more likely to target the likes of India and Africa, where the market potential is higher.
“Malaysia ... will be them returning to a location (which previously struggled to be viable),” he added.
But what Malaysia cannot offer F1 in novelty as a market, Gajen argues, Sepang can offer on the track.
Despite the transport problems he faced, Gajen maintained that the race itself delivered and this has increased his appetite for more F1 racing in his home country.
“The Sepang track is wide and purposefully built for overtaking and you can see drivers maxing out their skills,” he told CNA.
He was willing to spend more than RM2,000 on a grandstand ticket this time and would pay again for the chance to see F1 return to Sepang.
“As a motorsport enthusiast, or even just an average Malaysian, it is a small price to pay because we want to invest in experiences,” he said.