When Malaysia ended their 18-year partnership with Formula 1 in 2017, notably the first year of Liberty Media’s £6billion takeover of the sport from Bernie Ecclestone, the then-CEO of the Sepang International Circuit did not mince his words. “It’s hard to sell this kind of event and to get bums on seats,” said Razlan Razali, with a hosting fee set at around £30m.
“It’s not worth the investment at the moment.”
