SEPANG: Sepang International Circuit (SIC) chief executive officer Datuk Razlan Razali has slammed those responsible for spreading fake documents and misleading rumours regarding the Petronas Malaysia Formula One Grand Prix.
Razlan said he is disappointed that a fake document – stating that Haas (F1 team) had demanded US$295,000 (RM1.24 million) in compensation from the circuit for the damage to Romain Grosjean's car – had been circulating on social media beginning early Saturday.
The Haas driver had struck a drain cover, causing his right rear tire to explode, triggering a dramatic crash. This brought an early end to the second practice session yesterday and had also seen misleading rumours being spread that the race had been cancelled.
"I want to make it clear that the Malaysian GP will not be cancelled and the document is fake," said Razlan.
"We have not received anything official from either Haas nor the FIA.
"I do not understand why certain parties would do such a thing when it is the last F1 race in Malaysia.
"We should be celebrating this final race instead of uploading misleading statuses on social media and spreading fake documents," he said.
Razlan added that the FIA had conducted a thorough inspection of the circuit on Thursday, a day before the cars took to the track.
"We were told in advance that the tire barriers needed to be upgraded in certain sections due to the faster speed of the cars this year.
"We did that and everything went smoothly during the inspection.
"The drain covers have always been welded shut. Even they (the FIA) said that it was an unforeseen incident and it is hard to blame any party, including us.
"We have again inspected the drainage system and reinforced the welds," Razlan added.
Translated from Berita Harian