If you’re a fan of Formula One, next year might be the last year you’ll get to watch the race in Malaysia.
Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz has confirmed that Malaysia will take a break from hosting Formula One races once the current contract ends in 2018.
Nazri told The New Straits Times that the decision to pull the plug was made after the government deemed it was too costly to host a race and has not brought necessary returns to the country.
“The current agreement is from 2016 to 2018. So once that ends, there will be no more (F1 in Malaysia).
“F1 attendance is dropping and there is less attraction now. We are spending RM300 million a year (for the race),” Nazri was quoted as saying.
The recent Malaysia Grand Prix held in October reportedly only managed to move between 55 and 60 per cent of the tickets, and TV viewership in the country was reportedly the lowest in history.
Malaysia is not the only country thinking about pulling out from the Formula One calendar, though.
Earlier this week, Singapore is said to be mulling an exit from the event due to a significant drop in attendance.
According to a report by business site Fortune, the Singapore Grand Prix in September saw an average of just 73,000 spectators in each of the three days, down from 87,000 last year.
The inaugural race in 2008 managed to attract more than 100,000 spectators daily.
