KUALA LUMPUR: Sepang International Circuit (SIC) chief executive officer Datuk Ahmad Razlan Ahmad Razali has suggested that it could be beneficial for Malaysia to "take a break" from hosting the Formula One races.
A temporary respite, he said, might prove beneficial for the country.
“Maybe it will do Malaysia good to take a break.
“I think the product (F1) is no longer exciting. It’s being dominated by one team,” he told reporters today.
F1 ticket sales have been on the wane since 2014.
Singapore had also registered a 20 per cent decline it ticket sales, he said.
Razlan said, each year, sales had consistently gone down by 10 per cent. Recently, sales only reached between 55 and 60 per cent.
This is in contrast with Moto GP. Tickets are sold out and the event is expecting about 90,000 spectators this weekend.
Razlan added that initial reports for the last F1 race showed that TV viewership in Malaysia was the “lowest in history”.
Earlier, Razlan was quoted as saying that the fate of Formula One in the country would be decided by Thursday.
He was quoted as saying that although SIC had a ‘watertight agreement’ with the license holders until 2018, a special meeting would be held with SIC’s major stakeholder, the Ministry of Finance, with regards to the future of the sporting event in Malaysia.
However, in a statement tonight, SIC said a "misunderstanding" had occurred. It clarified that no decision about the Formula 1 (F1) Grand Prix will be made this week.
"Any misunderstanding is regretted," the SIC said in an e-mailed statement.
The company added that only the renewal of the Motorcycle GrandPrix (MotoGP) licence, which expires this year, is expected to be finalised by the end of this week.