Sepang reveals it won’t generate ticket revenue from F1 return as Bahrain GP host -

The Sepang International Circuit says “all ticket sales revenue will go back to Bahrain” as it gets set to return to the Formula 1 calendar in October.

The FIA announced last weekend that the cancelled Bahrain Grand Prix will be rescheduled for the weekend of 2-4 October, but will be staged 6000km away at Malaysia’s Sepang circuit.

The Bahrain race was originally scheduled for April, but was cancelled due to the war in Iran.

Verstappen won the last F1 race held at Sepang

With the conflict still ongoing, a decision was made to return to Sepang but under the Bahrain Grand Prix banner.

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It will mark Sepang’s first race on the F1 calendar since 2017, though it won’t officially mark the first Malaysian Grand Prix since that year.

Sepang CEO Azhan Shafriman Hanif says the circuit will have no control over ticket prices, nor will it see any of the revenue generated from sales.

“All the ticket sales revenue will go back to Bahrain, so we don’t have the absolute power to determine certain things,” Azhan said in a Sepang media session on Tuesday.

“I will try my best to negotiate for a special price, maybe a MyKad [identity card] price for Malaysians.

“But the final decision is with Bahrain because they are paying the rights fee.”

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Why host an F1 race if you can’t make money from the tickets?

Sepang is sharing operational costs with the Bahrain Grand Prix organisation, though it is the latter who is covering the F1 hosting fee.

Azhan says the operational costs, which will include track preparation, of the event will be around $13 million.

While Bahrain is set to profit from the event, Azhan says the boost to the Malaysian economy because of F1’s return more than justifies Sepang’s role in hosting the race.

“Looking at the total picture, we have to look at the spillover effect,” he added.

“From reports of countries that host Formula 1, they can get more than three times the value.

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“This means Malaysia has the potential to gain more than RM1 billion [$244m] in economic impact.

F1 will return to Malaysia in October

“In the past, we had to work hard to sell tickets. Today, Formula 1 has built a huge global fan base and created a fear of missing out.

“Since the announcement, we’ve received inquiries on sponsorships, festivals and commercial activities.

“It’s a good problem to have.”

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According to Azhan, a delegation from F1 has already carried out a site inspection and determined that the circuit meets the required level to host the race.

However, some work to run-off areas and general infrastructure is taking place ahead of the October event.

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