KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia has no plans to bring back the annual Formula One race due to high sponsorship costs and a tight racing calendar, its sports minister Hannah Yeoh told parliament on Thursday.
Malaysia previously hosted a leg of the F1 world championship at its Sepang International Circuit (SIC) between 1999 and 2017.
Yeoh said the event would require a commitment of around 300 million ringgit ($71.09 million) annually for between three to five years, an amount that is more than double the government's development costs for 20 national sports programmes.
Malaysia would also have to compete with other hosting countries in Southeast Asia, such as neighbouring Singapore and Thailand, for a spot on the tournament calendar, Yeoh said.
The Thai government in June approved a $1.2 billion bid to host a F1 race in Bangkok in 2028.
Malaysia however remains open to hosting the event if any private companies were willing to bear the costs, Yeoh said, adding that interested parties can get in touch with the SIC for further discussions.
"The Formula 1 is a prestigious sports event that is followed by fans around the world. So if we could afford it, it would be good to have it in Malaysia," she said.
State energy firm Petroliam Nasional Berhad, or Petronas, which is wholly-owned by the government, holds the naming rights to the SIC, which continues to host MotoGP races and other motorsports events.
Reuters reported last year that Petronas was planning to bring F1 back to Malaysia in 2026, citing sources, though the company said it had not held discussions to bring the race back to the SIC.
($1 = 4.22 ringgit)
(Reporting by Rozanna Latiff and Ashley Tang; Editing by David Stanway)
