Formula 1’s return to Sepang was seen to be a one-off solution to a problem elsewhere, but it is beginning to look like a significant commercial opportunity for Malaysia.
Around 95,000 three-day tickets have already been sold for this weekend’s Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, with Sepang International Circuit expecting that figure to reach 100,000 ahead of the October 2-4 event.
The bigger number for Malaysia’s tourism economy is the split between local and international buyers, according to Sepang International Circuit Chief Executive Officer Azhan Shafriman Hanif.
“We have seen from the ticket buyers that 50 per cent are from overseas,” Azhan told Bernama and Radio Televisyen Malaysia.
“This is good for us. The more tourists come over and spend, the better it is for the economy.”
If sales reach 100,000 and that split holds, it would mean roughly 50,000 international ticket buyers heading to Malaysia for the event.
That is not the same as saying 50,000 tourists will enter the country solely because of F1, but it gives a useful indication of the scale of the international audience being brought to Sepang.
It is also a striking turnaround for a venue whose previous F1 era ended partly over concerns about declining tourism returns.
Sepang made its F1 debut in 1999, becoming one of the defining venues of the sport’s expansion into Asia.
Malaysia remained on the calendar for 19 seasons, but by the end of that run, the economics had changed.
Attendance had fallen sharply in the years before the exit. Only 46,944 spectators attended the 2016 race, while the 2013 event had attracted 88,450.
The final race did produce a late surge, with 110,604 spectators attending across the 2017 weekend, but Malaysia’s decision had already been made.
The issue was not simply the number of people inside the circuit. It was whether F1 was generating enough wider economic value to justify the cost.
Then F1’s 2026 calendar created an unusual opportunity. The Bahrain Grand Prix was originally scheduled for April but was unable to take place amid geopolitical tensions in the region.
Rather than lose the race entirely, F1, the FIA and the governments of Bahrain and Malaysia agreed to relocate it to Sepang with the announcement coming in July.
The race would retain its Bahrain identity and take place between Azerbaijan and Singapore in an agreement F1 described as a way to preserve a Grand Prix that otherwise would not have happened.
The financial structure was also very different from Malaysia’s previous F1 arrangement. Bahrain is absorbing the F1 rights fee, reported at around $75 million, while Malaysia’s commitment is understood to be focused on preparing Sepang to meet the necessary requirements.
We have seen the strength of two powerful countries working together. It’s a one-off event, so I think it’s a pull for everyone.
Azhan Shafriman Hanif
That fundamentally changes the calculation for the Malaysian side. Instead of committing hundreds of millions of ringgit to secure a multi-year Grand Prix, Malaysia gets the opportunity to stage an F1 event with a substantially lower financial burden.
And the response suggests there was still considerable latent demand for F1 in the country.
Azhan said sales during the final years of the Malaysian Grand Prix were typically around 40,000 to 50,000 tickets. The current figure is already almost double that, with another five days still remaining before the race weekend.
“I would think in the glory days, it was close to somewhere around 40,000 to 50,000 tickets sold,” he said.
“But this time around it’s unprecedented. We have seen the strength of two powerful countries working together. It’s a one-off event, so I think it’s a pull for everyone.”
Bahrain is bringing its own race identity, commercial structure and entertainment proposition to Malaysia, while Sepang provides the circuit and the infrastructure required to stage the event. The result is effectively a new product built on an old F1 venue.
That has helped create a sense of scarcity around the event too. It is a one-off, with no Malaysian Grand Prix contract running into future seasons and no guarantee that Sepang will be on the 2027 calendar.
That makes this weekend’s race a potentially valuable test case for what happens when F1 returns to a market that has been absent for almost a decade.
The economic impact of the race extends well beyond ticket revenue.
Bahrain International Circuit Chief Executive Officer Sheikh Salman Isa Al Khalifa estimated that the event could generate around $240 million of economic impact for Malaysia, with hotels, restaurants and transportation among the sectors expected to benefit.
The scale of the operation also reflects how much F1 has changed since Sepang last hosted a Grand Prix. Azhan said the circuit has undergone rapid transformation to meet F1 requirements, with the paddock among the areas upgraded ahead of the race.
The logistics have also been significantly larger than those associated with MotoGP, which has remained a regular fixture at Sepang during F1’s absence. F1 cargo alone is estimated to be four to five times the volume normally handled for MotoGP.
For Sepang, it is an opportunity to demonstrate that the venue still has a place in F1’s expanding commercial ecosystem and for the Malaysian tourism industry, the first evidence is already sitting in the ticket sales.
Nine years after Malaysia decided that F1 was no longer delivering enough for the cost, this weekend is a rather different proposition.
