When Malaysia ended their 18-year partnership with Formula 1 in 2017, notably the first year of Liberty Media’s £6billion takeover of the sport from Bernie Ecclestone, the then-CEO of the Sepang International Circuit did not mince his words. “It’s hard to sell this kind of event and to get bums on seats,” said Razlan Razali, with a hosting fee set at around £30m.
“It’s not worth the investment at the moment.”
Nearly a decade on, such has been the mega-boom in F1 as a commercial entity, including its teams and its popularity with a younger demographic, a plethora of countries now want a slice of the pie. Malaysia has previously stood firm, refusing to get embroiled in a bidding war with other Asian countries – such as Thailand, India and Korea – keen to land a spot on the schedule. Yet in July, the opportunity for a one-off event progressed, from idea to reality, at an impressively quick rate.
Bahrain, the first Gulf country to host an F1 race in 2004, sees the sport as one of its blue-ribbon link-ups. Not only has it regularly hosted the season-opening grand prix, but it also held two races on different circuits in the Covid-impacted 2020 season and, in the years since, has hosted pre-season testing. Their sovereign wealth fund is also the majority owner of McLaren’s F1 team. And so when the Bahrain Grand Prix was cancelled in April, alongside the Saudi Arabian GP, they were desperate to carve a route back onto the calendar, whether the Middle Eastern conflict abated or not.
So much so, in fact, that they set their sights 4,000 miles south-east.
"It makes sense because the relationship between Bahrain and Malaysia has been strong,” Sheikh Salman bin Isa Al Khalifa, chief executive of the Bahrain International Circuit, told Sky Sports.
“Malaysia is fantastic, Sepang is fantastic. For us and F1, it's important that we are on the calendar. We went from 24 races to 22, then they were concerned about other races, so it's important for everyone, not just for F1 but the sponsors and the teams."
As inferred, sticking points between the respective governments, circuit officials and F1 executives were hashed out quickly. That said, it was only late July when the agreement for the ‘Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia’ was formally announced, giving stakeholders 10 weeks to make the arrangements for an event expected to attract around 200,000 spectators over the course of three days.
As a spectacle, it represents a fascinating intercontinental mishmash. For the intense humidity of Kuala Lumpur – Sunday’s race has been declared a ‘heat-hazard’ event, with temperatures higher than 30C – you have a myriad of Bahraini state airline ‘Gulf Air’ advertisements around the track and in the paddock. For a popular circuit which encourages genuine racing, you have 561 Bahraini marshals and officials on-site, flown over to manage trackside operations and event logistics.
To all intents and purposes, it really does feel like the Bahrain paddock has been picked up and dropped right in the middle of the Sepang International Circuit. Traditional Bahraini rosewater will be sprayed on the podium on Sunday and the main fanzone will be known as the ‘Bahrain Village’ – with the country’s mix of music, cuisine and crafts on offer. There’ll even be a traditional ‘Gulf Air’ flyover prior to lights out on Sunday, despite the event being held 40 miles outside the home city of Malaysian Airlines.
For the host country, however, it actually represents something of a no-brainer. Malaysian prime minister Anwar Ibrahim revealed it will only cost £3m to stage the event from their end, primarily for track upgrades. Sepang still hosts top-level motorsport such as MotoGP and is an FIA Grade 1 circuit, removing obstacles such as re-homologation of the 16-turn track. The Bahrain International Circuit and Motor Federation will foot the majority of the hosting fee, thought to be around the £40m mark.
“It will draw the world’s top drivers, the most advanced cars, and thousands of engineers flying into Sepang,” Ibrahim was quoted as saying in July. “They looked at dozens of countries, if not more. First, it must be peaceful. Second, the administration must be efficient. Third, the infrastructure must be superior.”
Malaysia ticks all of those boxes.
For F1, it also represents a key additional race. The sport’s commercial agreement with its broadcasters and 11 teams states that the season cannot drop below 22 events without significant financial implications. With Bahrain and Saudi cancelled, that number had already dropped to 22, with Qatar and Abu Dhabi at the season-end at risk too. As such, F1 were keen to add a race where possible and, in between the geographically convenient spots of Azerbaijan and Singapore, Malaysia stepping in became a very feasible option.
Sporting-wise, too, it should be an intriguing few days of racing. Only 10 of the 22 drivers have raced in F1 at Sepang and, with its fast-flowing corners and two long straights, past editions have caught alight. The most memorable was the “Multi-21” squabble between Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber in 2013. Last time out, in 2017, Max Verstappen won just his second race for Red Bull.
“I always enjoyed racing here because I think I really liked the track layout,” said the 29-year-old, an ardent critic of many circuits on the calendar this year. “It was not very straightforward because there's always high degradation, hot in general, so quite uncomfortable in a way to drive physically. But yeah… great memories.”
There’s also a 50% chance of rain for Saturday’s qualifying and Sunday’s race. Add that into the cauldron of high humidity, a strenuous 56-lap grand prix and four teams in the mix for table-topping positions, it could well be quite the show.
Read MoreMax Verstappen adds surprise Portugal race to schedule in ‘busy seven weeks’
Franco Colapinto gives honest reaction to Lando Norris abuse from Argentine fans: ‘They are bad’
F1 live streams: Link to watch Bahrain GP in Malaysia practice online
Max Verstappen sets early practice pace for rearranged Bahrain Grand Prix
Max Verstappen adds surprise Portugal race to schedule in ‘busy seven weeks’