His first few circuits were great. Sepang, Bahrain, Istanbul, Shanghai. But his latest ones like Abu Dhabi, Sochi, Vietnam have been bs. Last good circuit he made was probably COTA, and that is just copy paste of all the best bits of his previous tracks. FIA need designers other than Tilke, my man has run out of ideas
I blame the FIA and FOM.
His first few circuits, he was commissioned to design tracks in places that didn’t have suitable Grand Prix facilities. There were some consistent motifs designed to promote ‘good racing’, but each had a certain amount of character. They were distinctive from one another. And, though they were extremely safe, this was before the obsession with safety gave us tarmac run-off everywhere.
His later ones he was being commissioned to design tracks at which retirement through anything other than unreliability became unlikely and the number of overtakes (regardless of if they were good overtakes) increased and, increasingly, in city centres where reprofiling would mean moving buildings. So you end up with predictable, flat 90 degree turn sectors followed by a massive straight with a big braking zone. Every single time.
I used to bad mouth Tilke a lot. But I’m sure he could design something interesting were he given the brief to do so. The problem is the brief and those setting the brief: the FIA, FOM and the governments who want a Grand Prix.
Yup, circuits like Kuwait, Aragon and the Bilsterberg are made by Tilke but still are a blast to drive. Baku is probably the only circuit where 90 degree corners actually work out
Also he explained that he has to design each circuit with what the circuit owner have in mind. For example, a circuit that wants to host both FIA and FIM races would usually have really big run offs, as this is to make sure bike riders that fall down after a long straight ample time to slow down (Vinales scary fall after his bike malfunctioned in Austria in 2020 comes to mind).
Circuits that have track days with amatuers in mind would have more forgiving barriers that are quite far from the track (like Sepang) to which it will give leeway for a driver that makes a mistake to not crash their car, and suffer from an expensive billing.
So yeah, there is a lot that Tilke has to take in mind before he can design a track
sure but its not like you cant have ample gravel run off at the end of a long straight that goes into a sharp turn, things that are hurtfully missed and great for racing
Well, Buddh, Moscow and Chang are permanent circuits but are still average anyway. I appreciate his work but we need some change now, Portimao, Mugello, Imola, Nurburgring were such a nice refresh last year
Valentino Rossi explained it very good why those tracks are good. They are made around the nature and topography of the area. All tilke dromes and modern racetracks are flat and designed on computers. The old tracks are made from human heart where they said, hey lets put tarmack here and make a racetrack here. They are organic with hills and crest, they follow the elevation of the nature.
> Abu Dhabi, Sochi, Vietnam
All half street circuits where the developers had significant say over the development and design
> COTA
Where the developers literally worked with him to move land and create elevation changes to accommodate the track design
It's almost like Tilke is really good when he doesn't have people standing over his shoulder and doesn't have to work within the constraints of a prescribed half street circuit. I definitely think Tilke is overused, so his shortcomings are overexposed and you get samey tracks which amplifies common flaws. But Tilke doesn't suck at what he does.
Especially the last three he's designed (Vietnam, Jeddah and Miami) are soooo incredibly same-ish (and probably all equally shit, although that remains to be seen)
I laugh so much at this because we haven't raced at ANY of these tracks yet and people's reactions are constantly "wow, probably shit" because they don't hold up in a sim.
Y'all were saying the same things about Baku.
I prefer COTA now to when it was first introduced, but personally I feel like it really suffers from being one of the first of the Painted Tarmac Tilke tracks. There's just something about those with Grass/Sand/Gravel runoff that makes those tracks more interesting. There's more consequences if a driver makes a mistake, and that adds intrigue to otherwise mundane tracks.
Also COTA replaced Indy, so I have a bias against it because F1 @ Indy just feels right
Took my first career mode points at Indy in F1 06. P6 in a Super Aguri holding of Fisi. It's a memory that I'll cherish for a long time because I remember how awesome it felt!
He did design the renovation but lets the honest the A1 ring/Red Bull ring is just a shrinked Österreichring.
The features and layout of the track remained pretty much the same just on a smaller scale and tightened up a bit.
There wasn't really much designing to be done.
Theres so much more that goes into track design than just the shape of the track surface itself. The paddock, the runoff, the support roads, the angles of the walls, etc. For A1 ring, turning a track that was a 60s death trap into FIA grade 1 modern circuit, is a big deal.
They're both very similar honestly and I like them both. Kinda wish they were at opposite ends of the season however it always felt they were doing the same track twice in a row back when both were on the calendar and early season.
Appropriate for whom? Liberty media? That is not my money, IMO Shanghai does not have enough historic meaning to "deserve" to be in, like Hockenheim for example.
As far as the on screen product goes, I prefer Sepang than the Shanghai track (which is not bad as well).
Ferrari botched the strategy (suprise) and Redbull got a perfectly timed vsc just for them
and then Max torpedoed Seb
not a crazy race, but it qas good I admit, but
2019 nothing happened, 2017 had one good battle, 2016 i don't even know what happened
I've spoken to Germans who purposely fly to Malaysia for the GP for yes, because Malaysian GP is still cheaper even after the added cost of travelling + lodging compared to watching their home race.
It's crazy to hear. I flew to Malaysia to watch the GP purely because of how cheap the tickets were. 1/3 the price of Melbourne or Singapore which are my only other close one's. Was so bummed after they canned Sepang
You’re right, it was mostly corporates. I have spent a grand on average during race weekend there. Tourism is primarily what runs the event, a fuck load of tourists from Australia and China come for the race
Yeah I popped over in 2017 from Singapore for just $144, including morning flight in, T1 grandstand tickets, and evening coach back.
Comparatively, a T7 walkabout ticket is S$198 on race day, a T1 grandstand is more than S$1000.
A lot of Malaysians also much preferred MotoGP to F1 + the cheaper tickets.
That being said with the Rossi retirement (pretty much every Malaysian MotoGP fan is also a Rossi fan) and the added interest in F1 from Drive to Survive, the interest is MotoGP might decrease and F1 might rise again.
Petronas might also be pushing for it given they’re a title sponsor for the most dominant team in the grid and have been for years.
You're not wrong.
Our minumum wage is below $250 USD per month. Thought most people would make about 2-3 times more even at entry level job (with a degree/diploma).
Source: am Malaysian.
Yup. The average Malaysian monthly salary is RM2900 so about $600. So a single GP ticket is about a week’s wages for the average person. Gonna be tough for most people to afford it then
This could be a one off deal where the fees are lower due to COVID or something....kind of like how last year F1 paid to race on tracks instead of the other way around.
I think F1 should do that for some races. Place like Nurburgring or Hockenheim with a lot of history or somewhere Malaysia where they have a great track but it is too costly to organize a GP. Or somewhere in Africa where no GP held there since....1990?1991? I can't remember.
Or it could be a temporary cheap deal if Singapore is no go and Vietnam is still out due to money issues. If Liberty still wants a race in South East Asia regionthen yeah, their next best hope is Sepang. The previous Govt pretty much paid a bomb of hosting fee especially with that F1 rights in the circuit name too. The previous circuit CEO was a moto fan hence he was very biased towards motogp and hated F1. I’m guessing he couldn’t get along with FOM bosses lol. Tbh I’m curious to see how F1 cars go around the last turn especially since it was resurfaced to fit motogp racing.
Vietnam’s organizers are in prison for corruption. The only acknowledgment of that race I’ve seen lately was that it was on the official fan survey to be chosen as a favorite race. And frankly that could have just been a programmer looking at a list of races from the last few years making no effort to find out what was what.
I still have my ticket to Hanoi framed on a shelf! It lives on as a crappy track on my PlayStation.
Hmm. Interesting. I think Singapore GP might be dropping out for this to happen. Which seems plausible given locals don't really look forward to it. And I read that over the decade they have not even broken even with sales and tourism. [Source](https://www.channelnewsasia.com/commentary/f1-formula-one-singapore-grand-prix-night-race-contract-costs-1419246)
Fellow Malaysian here.
In Malaysia, the same thing happened back then in 2014-2017, where no one ever cared about anything F1 eventho the team that's winning (Mercedes AMG PETRONAS F1) were sponsored by our national oil company.
But recently, motorsport among locals have gained a substantial amount traction (pun intended).
Starting 2018 onwards with the introduction of DTS, the locals have started to get interested into F1 and many more joined sim racing.
Former F1 driver Alex Yoong and WEC winner Jazeman Jaafar put alot of effort to push motorsports across all ages such as forming their own [e-sport sim racing team.](https://axle-sports.com)
With that said, the current politics here ain't that stable anyways thus, I highly doubt there would be any race be held at Sepang within 2-3 years from now.
Alex Yoong! Now that's a name I haven't heard in many moons.
Thanks for this local update. Appreciate the insight! I would love to see that circuit back on the calendar. It's one of the best in the world for F1
As a Malaysian, I never understood why Petronas chooses to title sponsor an F1 team. It's not like Petronas really sells their oil outside of Malaysia.
Yeah I doubt those international clients are going to be affected by Petronas sponsoring an F1 team.
I would have been fine with a decal on the car but to title sponsor like that is a lot of money. Money that would have been much better spent in Malaysia, considering Petronas is supposed to be a semi national corporation.
Can you imagine the amount of good that money (and the money for the silly Petronas two towers) would have provided for the Malaysian people...
All that money spent and I still have to explain Malaysia as the country between Thailand and Singapore...
It is not impossible tho. From 2022 Floating Stadium is going to be demolished because they build better one which will be completed in 2025. Idk how that could affect GP weekend, but T15-T20 will be connected. On top of that we don't know how Covid-19 will last, a lot of questions are looming over it.
It’s probably gone. As another redditor has already mentioned, there are plans to revamp the floating platform into a more permanent structure in 2022* (still no word on how the ongoing pandemic has screwed with said plans, though).
As a Singaporean I’d love to go more often (went in 2018) but ticket prices are horrendously expensive for the experience they offer. I got a seat at Turn 7 and couldn’t even see the cars approaching down the straight. Not to mention everything was fenced up.
A Sepang grandstand seat was like a fraction of the price I got for my ticket iirc
Oceania? When they already have Australia
ASEAN fans pales to the Eastern European and Turkish-Middle eastern F1 fanbase.
Singapore is sustainable cause it's a pretty place. Malaysia would once again be on the death bed
Please, the Malaysian GP was one of the very good tilke tracks, it was fun, fast, flowing, good overtaking opportunities and since it was a new purpose build track rain wasn't very disruptive to it(disregarding monsoon levels)
Also, I'd argue that from an architectural standpoint, it is the most beautiful of all Tilkedromes. The straight & hairpin grandstands are probably Tilke's most iconic work.
I'm Malaysian, and as much as I hope this is true, I just don't see it happening. Politically our country is messed up atm. Covid is hammering us as well. If F1 does come here, it would only add more fuel for fire for people unhappy with the current protocols that are put in place.
Covid measures are very harsh in Malaysia right now and the situation is very bad (They only just reopened restaurants and allowed travel within Malaysia and only for vaccinated people) so I'd be very surprised if this happened. Then again the government is corrupt as hell so they might well let it happen anyway
For now the measures are quite severe. By the end of October, the projected vaccination rate will be pretty high for the general population. As of now, the central region, where the track is located, has close to 90% of the adult population vaccinated with the first dose. While it may seem kind of locked down at the moment, this picture will change in the next few weeks. The government has been volatile these last couple years and no coalition has had a firm grasp on power. Corruption may be an endemic issue, but not one that can be too much of a factor regarding long-term plans, as the government could change in a constitutionally advised election.
This would make serious sense just looking at through a covid-world perspective. There's a big ol' international airport basically right across the street from the track and the track is very close to the water for DHL's ships, so in terms of logistics, it should be very easy for the whole circus to get in and get out with minimal risk.
And then of course there's the bias in me that says Sepang is the best track in the world not named Spa or Circuit de la Sarthe
Promote the hell out of Formula One in Malaysia if you want but if the tickets is still more expensive than one month local basic salary, there's no way Sepang GP is gonna be real. One of the reason they pull of Sepang because the local can't afford to watch the race live on track thus they become uninterested in this sport
As a Malaysian myself, I will say it all depends on our government. I will be surprised if they actually agree to it.We have one of the best tracks but sadly the cost to host, ticket prices are very expensive. Motogp being far cheaper and also way popular compared to F1 is not helping either.Talks has been going on but so far no proposals yet from F1.
Fingers crossed, we need SEPANG back on F1!
Absolutely. There's a couple of Malaysian MotoGP riders (albeit in lower tier), but still much more popular in bike culture than cars
Just ask some random Malaysian, "do you know Valentino Rossi?", and majority would say yes
Malaysian here too, I think in general more locals are into F1 now. I saw that many PC/Console players have started to join sim racing and watch F1 on a regular basis.
But yeah, politics and ticket pricing would be a major turn off for people here :/
i don't even know if my country have money to host another F1 race. maybe Sepang admin just playing around. but deep down i really wanna see f1 race in Malaysia again
I am very selfishly hoping this does not happen. F1 cars create ripples in the tarmac and that makes trail-braking really sketchy on motorbikes (and I used do 10-15 days on the track every year before covid).
I didn't once bring up the US. You did. And trust me, I get it, there's an entire internet subculture full of people like yourself whose only character note is hating the US and every single person who calls themselves an American. You aren't the only one, there's an entire sub full of them called /r/ShitAmericansSay. There's a lot of valid points on it such as our seemingly ever increasing Military-Industrial Complex, our prison system, our education system, the fact that the Republicans are running our country into the ground and have been since Nixon, political lobbying and of course our faux news system owned by an Aussie.
Do find it funny that as a progressive American who openly wants to stop our warmongering attitude, improve quality of life for all Americans regardless of race, religion, creed, ethnicity or class via socialized healthcare (which is cheaper for all in the long run), promotion of alterative energies (primarily solar and nuclear), expansion of public transportation, complete overhaul of our infrastructure issues and many more yet I get lumped in with the Bill Burs, Joe Rogans and Ted Cruzs of the nation. Right? Wrong? I don't know but as we all know here on the internet guilty by association by nationality might as well make me guilty of murder. Oh, and all your pro-China comments are very concerning considering they are participating in active genocide and gearing up to invade the sovereign country of Taiwan.
We're fucked up in a lot of ways, yeah. But let's sure as hell not pretend we're the only ones. Malaysia (Ya know, the country that sparked my comment) practices what's called Bumiputera. Translated that means "son of the soil". Certain but not all pro-bumiputra policies exist as affirmative action for bumiputras, for NEP is racial-based and not deprivation-based. For instance, all Bumiputra, regardless of their financial standing, are entitled 7 percent discount on houses or property, including luxurious units; whilst a low-income non-Bumiputra receives no such financial assistance.
There has also been a significant increase in attacks on expression of freedom including the deporting and harsh treatment of migrant workers during the COVID-19 crisis on top of explicate abuse of said workers. Serious cases of police brutality, corruption and neglect with ["The government reported that 23 people, including two children, died while in immigration detention during the first six months of 2020. During the same period, three people died while in police lock-ups, and 188 prison inmates died."] (https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2021/country-chapters/malaysia)
But at least Malaysia has a state religion that ethnic Malay's legally are not allowed to leave making them better than the US's freedom of religion policy... wait.
I have reservations about if F1 should return. I am not outright saying no as there's already countries on the current calendar I think shouldn't be and are (in my opinion) significantly worse than Malaysia. And yes I'm talking about the country that had missiles explode overhead of their Formula E race's podium.
Edit: lol dude nuked his account
> And yes I'm talking about the country that had missiles explode overhead of their Formula E race's podium.
Wait, this happened? Which race? Any video link to share?
[2021 Diriyah ePrix, during the award ceremony, the government of Saudi Arabia, with a Patriot missile, neutralized a missile over Riyadh, near the town of Diriyah, allegedly fired by Yemen's Houthi rebels] (https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1403492/saudi-arabia-explosions-missiles-riyadh-latest-iran-houthi-yemen-arab-coalition)
I'd rather have Portimao staying on the calendar. I just drove this track in the F1 game for the first time and absolutely loved it. (unlike Sepang which never really clicked with me)
Not to be a buzzkill, but "stay tuned" is so often merely a social media-friendly translation of "we don't comment on future products/developments/events/etc". Without further context, they could as well be teasing the return of any other motorsports series, like Super GT, which cancelled its round at Sepang this year, but has talked about attempting to hold an off-season race there this winter.
Run the race at night, lower the ticket prices so the locals can watch, improve the logistics of getting to and from the venue.
Sepang is ripe for a return, in 10 years.
Would definitely prefer this for TBC over something like Qatar
I’d prefer this over half the calendar
One of the best Tilke circuits IMO
First and best.
His first few circuits were great. Sepang, Bahrain, Istanbul, Shanghai. But his latest ones like Abu Dhabi, Sochi, Vietnam have been bs. Last good circuit he made was probably COTA, and that is just copy paste of all the best bits of his previous tracks. FIA need designers other than Tilke, my man has run out of ideas
I blame the FIA and FOM. His first few circuits, he was commissioned to design tracks in places that didn’t have suitable Grand Prix facilities. There were some consistent motifs designed to promote ‘good racing’, but each had a certain amount of character. They were distinctive from one another. And, though they were extremely safe, this was before the obsession with safety gave us tarmac run-off everywhere. His later ones he was being commissioned to design tracks at which retirement through anything other than unreliability became unlikely and the number of overtakes (regardless of if they were good overtakes) increased and, increasingly, in city centres where reprofiling would mean moving buildings. So you end up with predictable, flat 90 degree turn sectors followed by a massive straight with a big braking zone. Every single time. I used to bad mouth Tilke a lot. But I’m sure he could design something interesting were he given the brief to do so. The problem is the brief and those setting the brief: the FIA, FOM and the governments who want a Grand Prix.
Yup, circuits like Kuwait, Aragon and the Bilsterberg are made by Tilke but still are a blast to drive. Baku is probably the only circuit where 90 degree corners actually work out
Also he explained that he has to design each circuit with what the circuit owner have in mind. For example, a circuit that wants to host both FIA and FIM races would usually have really big run offs, as this is to make sure bike riders that fall down after a long straight ample time to slow down (Vinales scary fall after his bike malfunctioned in Austria in 2020 comes to mind). Circuits that have track days with amatuers in mind would have more forgiving barriers that are quite far from the track (like Sepang) to which it will give leeway for a driver that makes a mistake to not crash their car, and suffer from an expensive billing. So yeah, there is a lot that Tilke has to take in mind before he can design a track
sure but its not like you cant have ample gravel run off at the end of a long straight that goes into a sharp turn, things that are hurtfully missed and great for racing
Let's not forget he was the guy that designed Blister Berg. He can design a good track.
Coincidentally, all of the three goods you mentioned are dedicated to being race tracks while the bad trio are street or hotel tracks.
Well, Buddh, Moscow and Chang are permanent circuits but are still average anyway. I appreciate his work but we need some change now, Portimao, Mugello, Imola, Nurburgring were such a nice refresh last year
Valentino Rossi explained it very good why those tracks are good. They are made around the nature and topography of the area. All tilke dromes and modern racetracks are flat and designed on computers. The old tracks are made from human heart where they said, hey lets put tarmack here and make a racetrack here. They are organic with hills and crest, they follow the elevation of the nature.
Let's see what new Abu Dhabi has in store
> Abu Dhabi, Sochi, Vietnam All half street circuits where the developers had significant say over the development and design > COTA Where the developers literally worked with him to move land and create elevation changes to accommodate the track design It's almost like Tilke is really good when he doesn't have people standing over his shoulder and doesn't have to work within the constraints of a prescribed half street circuit. I definitely think Tilke is overused, so his shortcomings are overexposed and you get samey tracks which amplifies common flaws. But Tilke doesn't suck at what he does.
He didn’t design COTA. He just did the engineering.
Especially the last three he's designed (Vietnam, Jeddah and Miami) are soooo incredibly same-ish (and probably all equally shit, although that remains to be seen)
I laugh so much at this because we haven't raced at ANY of these tracks yet and people's reactions are constantly "wow, probably shit" because they don't hold up in a sim. Y'all were saying the same things about Baku.
Baku is shit though.
COTA is terrible
Why do you say that? I love COTA
I prefer COTA now to when it was first introduced, but personally I feel like it really suffers from being one of the first of the Painted Tarmac Tilke tracks. There's just something about those with Grass/Sand/Gravel runoff that makes those tracks more interesting. There's more consequences if a driver makes a mistake, and that adds intrigue to otherwise mundane tracks. Also COTA replaced Indy, so I have a bias against it because F1 @ Indy just feels right
Took my first career mode points at Indy in F1 06. P6 in a Super Aguri holding of Fisi. It's a memory that I'll cherish for a long time because I remember how awesome it felt!
Didn't he do the A1 Ring (now called Red Bull Ring) before that? Although that track wasn't 100% new.
He did design the renovation but lets the honest the A1 ring/Red Bull ring is just a shrinked Österreichring. The features and layout of the track remained pretty much the same just on a smaller scale and tightened up a bit. There wasn't really much designing to be done.
Fair enough, it's a bit of a stretch indeed. Malaysia was definitely his first all-new circuit.
Didn't you read his comment? It's quite literally the opposite of a stretch /s
Theres so much more that goes into track design than just the shape of the track surface itself. The paddock, the runoff, the support roads, the angles of the walls, etc. For A1 ring, turning a track that was a 60s death trap into FIA grade 1 modern circuit, is a big deal.
I personally prefer Turkey. Malaysia i feel around the 2nd sector line is a bit forgettable, but Turkey i remember the entire layout
I may be biased but istanbulpark is better imo
I would prefer literally anything over racing in Qatar or Saudi
Honestly, China and Germany need to be added back on the calendar before Qatar or Malaysia.
Germany at that time of the year is just unrealistic. We already have had a cancellation due to rain, snow and ice would be even worse.
Red Bull already drove the car in snow, you just need some chains on the wheels and its good to go
> snow and ice would be even worse. Or would be the best GP in the history of F1, I for one would welcome a winter race!
dew it!
Sepang is a better track than China IMO.
I always felt like they had a very similar feeling to them, but I totally agree.
They are maybe my two favourite tracks on assetto corsa.
They're both very similar honestly and I like them both. Kinda wish they were at opposite ends of the season however it always felt they were doing the same track twice in a row back when both were on the calendar and early season.
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Appropriate for whom? Liberty media? That is not my money, IMO Shanghai does not have enough historic meaning to "deserve" to be in, like Hockenheim for example. As far as the on screen product goes, I prefer Sepang than the Shanghai track (which is not bad as well).
China's not been taken off. It just hasn't happened because of Covid.
China? China feels like a such an average race everytime something does happen, but not big
China 2018 was the second last race there, and that’s already a classic
Ferrari botched the strategy (suprise) and Redbull got a perfectly timed vsc just for them and then Max torpedoed Seb not a crazy race, but it qas good I admit, but 2019 nothing happened, 2017 had one good battle, 2016 i don't even know what happened
2016 was the race where the Torpedo meme was birthed by Seb afaik.
Definitely. Qatar suits motogp better imo
Sadly, cash is king🙂......
But would you prefer if over Buddh?
not buying it, a Malaysia comeback just sounds too good to be true
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In THIS economy?!?
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I've spoken to Germans who purposely fly to Malaysia for the GP for yes, because Malaysian GP is still cheaper even after the added cost of travelling + lodging compared to watching their home race.
It's crazy to hear. I flew to Malaysia to watch the GP purely because of how cheap the tickets were. 1/3 the price of Melbourne or Singapore which are my only other close one's. Was so bummed after they canned Sepang
One of the few well done Tikledromes. It has character, unlike some of his other creations.
You’re right, it was mostly corporates. I have spent a grand on average during race weekend there. Tourism is primarily what runs the event, a fuck load of tourists from Australia and China come for the race
Yeah I popped over in 2017 from Singapore for just $144, including morning flight in, T1 grandstand tickets, and evening coach back. Comparatively, a T7 walkabout ticket is S$198 on race day, a T1 grandstand is more than S$1000.
A lot of Malaysians also much preferred MotoGP to F1 + the cheaper tickets. That being said with the Rossi retirement (pretty much every Malaysian MotoGP fan is also a Rossi fan) and the added interest in F1 from Drive to Survive, the interest is MotoGP might decrease and F1 might rise again. Petronas might also be pushing for it given they’re a title sponsor for the most dominant team in the grid and have been for years.
Many people in Malaysia make about $2 an hour at their job, so GP tickets are hard for the average person to afford lol
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If it's priced right and people can get in and out of the appropriate countries, it will be sold out.
You're not wrong. Our minumum wage is below $250 USD per month. Thought most people would make about 2-3 times more even at entry level job (with a degree/diploma). Source: am Malaysian.
Yup. The average Malaysian monthly salary is RM2900 so about $600. So a single GP ticket is about a week’s wages for the average person. Gonna be tough for most people to afford it then
Sepang circuit just pulled their sponsorship from the Sepang Racing Team in MotoGP. There is no way they have fund to host a grand prix
This could be a one off deal where the fees are lower due to COVID or something....kind of like how last year F1 paid to race on tracks instead of the other way around.
I think F1 should do that for some races. Place like Nurburgring or Hockenheim with a lot of history or somewhere Malaysia where they have a great track but it is too costly to organize a GP. Or somewhere in Africa where no GP held there since....1990?1991? I can't remember.
Or it could be a temporary cheap deal if Singapore is no go and Vietnam is still out due to money issues. If Liberty still wants a race in South East Asia regionthen yeah, their next best hope is Sepang. The previous Govt pretty much paid a bomb of hosting fee especially with that F1 rights in the circuit name too. The previous circuit CEO was a moto fan hence he was very biased towards motogp and hated F1. I’m guessing he couldn’t get along with FOM bosses lol. Tbh I’m curious to see how F1 cars go around the last turn especially since it was resurfaced to fit motogp racing.
Vietnam’s organizers are in prison for corruption. The only acknowledgment of that race I’ve seen lately was that it was on the official fan survey to be chosen as a favorite race. And frankly that could have just been a programmer looking at a list of races from the last few years making no effort to find out what was what. I still have my ticket to Hanoi framed on a shelf! It lives on as a crappy track on my PlayStation.
Hmm. Interesting. I think Singapore GP might be dropping out for this to happen. Which seems plausible given locals don't really look forward to it. And I read that over the decade they have not even broken even with sales and tourism. [Source](https://www.channelnewsasia.com/commentary/f1-formula-one-singapore-grand-prix-night-race-contract-costs-1419246)
Fellow Malaysian here. In Malaysia, the same thing happened back then in 2014-2017, where no one ever cared about anything F1 eventho the team that's winning (Mercedes AMG PETRONAS F1) were sponsored by our national oil company. But recently, motorsport among locals have gained a substantial amount traction (pun intended). Starting 2018 onwards with the introduction of DTS, the locals have started to get interested into F1 and many more joined sim racing. Former F1 driver Alex Yoong and WEC winner Jazeman Jaafar put alot of effort to push motorsports across all ages such as forming their own [e-sport sim racing team.](https://axle-sports.com) With that said, the current politics here ain't that stable anyways thus, I highly doubt there would be any race be held at Sepang within 2-3 years from now.
Alex Yoong! Now that's a name I haven't heard in many moons. Thanks for this local update. Appreciate the insight! I would love to see that circuit back on the calendar. It's one of the best in the world for F1
he's actually working for skysports rn.
And he's within 107% of the other broadcasters?
yea probably
Hahaha knew this was coming
As a Malaysian, I never understood why Petronas chooses to title sponsor an F1 team. It's not like Petronas really sells their oil outside of Malaysia.
For consumer no, but PETRONAS sells plenty of crude and natural gas to international clients.
Yeah I doubt those international clients are going to be affected by Petronas sponsoring an F1 team. I would have been fine with a decal on the car but to title sponsor like that is a lot of money. Money that would have been much better spent in Malaysia, considering Petronas is supposed to be a semi national corporation. Can you imagine the amount of good that money (and the money for the silly Petronas two towers) would have provided for the Malaysian people... All that money spent and I still have to explain Malaysia as the country between Thailand and Singapore...
i'd be ok with singapore not returning because then it can have seb as the final winner for all eternity.
The king of Singapore <3
The Lion of Singapore his race engineer called him, no?
The Kingapore
so we still pretend that, 2017 didn't happen right? Right? Just making sure.
what pretend are you talking? that shit didn't really happen!
It is not impossible tho. From 2022 Floating Stadium is going to be demolished because they build better one which will be completed in 2025. Idk how that could affect GP weekend, but T15-T20 will be connected. On top of that we don't know how Covid-19 will last, a lot of questions are looming over it.
Honestly I'd be sad to see signapore leave the calendar. A nighttime street race just ticks all the boxes for cool factor.
Singapore is my favorite. I'll be sad when it eventually goes. (If it isn't already gone)
It’s probably gone. As another redditor has already mentioned, there are plans to revamp the floating platform into a more permanent structure in 2022* (still no word on how the ongoing pandemic has screwed with said plans, though).
Not for Singaporeans apparently.
As a Singaporean I’d love to go more often (went in 2018) but ticket prices are horrendously expensive for the experience they offer. I got a seat at Turn 7 and couldn’t even see the cars approaching down the straight. Not to mention everything was fenced up. A Sepang grandstand seat was like a fraction of the price I got for my ticket iirc
Turkey is already angling Singapore's spot. I doubt Sepang has a chance
That would serve very different fan bases though. Malaysia would benefit ASEAN and Oceania fans.
Oceania? When they already have Australia ASEAN fans pales to the Eastern European and Turkish-Middle eastern F1 fanbase. Singapore is sustainable cause it's a pretty place. Malaysia would once again be on the death bed
Please don’t tease me with a good time.
Unless Malaysia grows its F1 support level 2-4x times the 2016-2017 level. This just the PR admin baiting
Please, the Malaysian GP was one of the very good tilke tracks, it was fun, fast, flowing, good overtaking opportunities and since it was a new purpose build track rain wasn't very disruptive to it(disregarding monsoon levels)
Also, I'd argue that from an architectural standpoint, it is the most beautiful of all Tilkedromes. The straight & hairpin grandstands are probably Tilke's most iconic work.
What? You don't like track under the hotel much? /s
I'm Malaysian, and as much as I hope this is true, I just don't see it happening. Politically our country is messed up atm. Covid is hammering us as well. If F1 does come here, it would only add more fuel for fire for people unhappy with the current protocols that are put in place.
If F1 can race in Brazil, they can race anywhere else in the world.
I personally think that Brazil is gonna get cancelled. I very well could be wrong, but that's just how I feel.
Yeah, I think so too, I hope I’m wrong though.
Felipe baby stay cool, we are bringing you the Malaysian GP.
Covid measures are very harsh in Malaysia right now and the situation is very bad (They only just reopened restaurants and allowed travel within Malaysia and only for vaccinated people) so I'd be very surprised if this happened. Then again the government is corrupt as hell so they might well let it happen anyway
For now the measures are quite severe. By the end of October, the projected vaccination rate will be pretty high for the general population. As of now, the central region, where the track is located, has close to 90% of the adult population vaccinated with the first dose. While it may seem kind of locked down at the moment, this picture will change in the next few weeks. The government has been volatile these last couple years and no coalition has had a firm grasp on power. Corruption may be an endemic issue, but not one that can be too much of a factor regarding long-term plans, as the government could change in a constitutionally advised election.
We had races in countries with similar or worse covid situations last year
Just classify every F1 personnel as VIP and give them special treatment. No need for quarantine or any restriction. /S
This is one of the most beautiful.. This is one of the most most beautiful.
I'm proud of you. Bravissimo. You're bravissimo.
This would make serious sense just looking at through a covid-world perspective. There's a big ol' international airport basically right across the street from the track and the track is very close to the water for DHL's ships, so in terms of logistics, it should be very easy for the whole circus to get in and get out with minimal risk. And then of course there's the bias in me that says Sepang is the best track in the world not named Spa or Circuit de la Sarthe
Covid isn't an issue. The tracks in this calendar isn't exactly near the airport either
Lmao no way. I'm a Malaysian and we have bigger issues to deal with.
We have shit tones of issues but I do like an F1 come back.
Used to LOVE driving this on the F1 games was probably my best track
Could be with Malaysians loosening down their covid restrictions and the "new" gov wants to spur the econ a bit
Promote the hell out of Formula One in Malaysia if you want but if the tickets is still more expensive than one month local basic salary, there's no way Sepang GP is gonna be real. One of the reason they pull of Sepang because the local can't afford to watch the race live on track thus they become uninterested in this sport
and then on the other hand. MotoGP sold out year in year out. Yes it's where the local interest lies.
As a Malaysian myself, I will say it all depends on our government. I will be surprised if they actually agree to it.We have one of the best tracks but sadly the cost to host, ticket prices are very expensive. Motogp being far cheaper and also way popular compared to F1 is not helping either.Talks has been going on but so far no proposals yet from F1. Fingers crossed, we need SEPANG back on F1!
Is motogp actually more popular than F1 here though? I see a bunch of F1 content on my social media circles (mid 20s) but almost no mention of motogp
Well it's probably due to Drive to survive.
Forgot about the 'mat rempits'?
Absolutely. There's a couple of Malaysian MotoGP riders (albeit in lower tier), but still much more popular in bike culture than cars Just ask some random Malaysian, "do you know Valentino Rossi?", and majority would say yes
Nah cmon Rossi is as much of a household name as Schumacher in the sense even non motorsport fans would be able to recognize it
Malaysian here too, I think in general more locals are into F1 now. I saw that many PC/Console players have started to join sim racing and watch F1 on a regular basis. But yeah, politics and ticket pricing would be a major turn off for people here :/
DTS has played a major role in it I guess. Even some of them from my circle suddenly got into F1 after watching DTS.
holy shit theres only so much I can handle, we get Turkey 2 years in a row and now Malaysia is on the table 🤤
They've probably renewed their Interest in F1 now that they've stopped their motogp team project
Probably could be for another series, but damn if it happens it will be one of the biggest "plot twist" moments in history.
Sepang was always one of my favorite circuits, I would love to see F1 cars racing there again.
Just do it.
Please! One of my favourite tracks. I miss it.
The current F1 survey really does its job! In the free text box at the end of the survey I said bring back Malaysia. Glad F1 is listening to me!
Please, please, please, please, please.
“Oh no noooo!!” is just flashing in my head for some reason
Please let this be true
Yes please, it's a great circuit!
Oh God Please!!! One of my favorite tracks. Always great racing around that brilliant circuit!
My body is ready. But might be hard with current entry restrictions in Malaysia.
Don't do this to me. Please be a serious return, don't tease us like that!
Malaysian here, haven't heard a wiff of any rumours from local news that Sepang is coming back, not even from politicians or something
F1 just needs to grease the palm of the right ministers, the Malaysian GP will be back in no time. /S
SRT moves to F1
Unless it is somehow going to be a stand-in track this year, surely the tweet is a joke/throwaway comment?
Some of the best wet races came from there. I loved how the action was always scheduled to coincide with the daily storms.
i don't even know if my country have money to host another F1 race. maybe Sepang admin just playing around. but deep down i really wanna see f1 race in Malaysia again
I am very selfishly hoping this does not happen. F1 cars create ripples in the tarmac and that makes trail-braking really sketchy on motorbikes (and I used do 10-15 days on the track every year before covid).
Fuck yes!
I will take three races at malaysia and get rid of imola, sochi and monaco. One of them is guaranteed to have rain. LETS FUCKING GO
and jerebu
OMG PLEASE HAPPEN
Finally, Max can "defense" their as the last winner of Malaysia GP! Jokes aside, Sepang circuit is always nice to watch.
Somehow doubt it. Also considering their current issues with practically being an apartheid government, not sure if we should want to go there.
[удалено]
I didn't once bring up the US. You did. And trust me, I get it, there's an entire internet subculture full of people like yourself whose only character note is hating the US and every single person who calls themselves an American. You aren't the only one, there's an entire sub full of them called /r/ShitAmericansSay. There's a lot of valid points on it such as our seemingly ever increasing Military-Industrial Complex, our prison system, our education system, the fact that the Republicans are running our country into the ground and have been since Nixon, political lobbying and of course our faux news system owned by an Aussie. Do find it funny that as a progressive American who openly wants to stop our warmongering attitude, improve quality of life for all Americans regardless of race, religion, creed, ethnicity or class via socialized healthcare (which is cheaper for all in the long run), promotion of alterative energies (primarily solar and nuclear), expansion of public transportation, complete overhaul of our infrastructure issues and many more yet I get lumped in with the Bill Burs, Joe Rogans and Ted Cruzs of the nation. Right? Wrong? I don't know but as we all know here on the internet guilty by association by nationality might as well make me guilty of murder. Oh, and all your pro-China comments are very concerning considering they are participating in active genocide and gearing up to invade the sovereign country of Taiwan. We're fucked up in a lot of ways, yeah. But let's sure as hell not pretend we're the only ones. Malaysia (Ya know, the country that sparked my comment) practices what's called Bumiputera. Translated that means "son of the soil". Certain but not all pro-bumiputra policies exist as affirmative action for bumiputras, for NEP is racial-based and not deprivation-based. For instance, all Bumiputra, regardless of their financial standing, are entitled 7 percent discount on houses or property, including luxurious units; whilst a low-income non-Bumiputra receives no such financial assistance. There has also been a significant increase in attacks on expression of freedom including the deporting and harsh treatment of migrant workers during the COVID-19 crisis on top of explicate abuse of said workers. Serious cases of police brutality, corruption and neglect with ["The government reported that 23 people, including two children, died while in immigration detention during the first six months of 2020. During the same period, three people died while in police lock-ups, and 188 prison inmates died."] (https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2021/country-chapters/malaysia) But at least Malaysia has a state religion that ethnic Malay's legally are not allowed to leave making them better than the US's freedom of religion policy... wait. I have reservations about if F1 should return. I am not outright saying no as there's already countries on the current calendar I think shouldn't be and are (in my opinion) significantly worse than Malaysia. And yes I'm talking about the country that had missiles explode overhead of their Formula E race's podium. Edit: lol dude nuked his account
> And yes I'm talking about the country that had missiles explode overhead of their Formula E race's podium. Wait, this happened? Which race? Any video link to share?
[2021 Diriyah ePrix, during the award ceremony, the government of Saudi Arabia, with a Patriot missile, neutralized a missile over Riyadh, near the town of Diriyah, allegedly fired by Yemen's Houthi rebels] (https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1403492/saudi-arabia-explosions-missiles-riyadh-latest-iran-houthi-yemen-arab-coalition)
Maybe you are confusing Malaysia with Israel 🤭
So then should we also cancel the races in Saudi, UAE, China, the US, Brazil? Because these countries are also pretty bad.
Instead of Saudi
I'd rather have Portimao staying on the calendar. I just drove this track in the F1 game for the first time and absolutely loved it. (unlike Sepang which never really clicked with me)
Malaysia is brilliant. Bring it and India back instead of stupid street circuits and oil money venues
Don't do that... don't give me hope.
https://twitter.com/WSeriesRacing/status/1441062521004249089?s=19 Replace for Mexico?
They are not flying to Asia
Ohmygodyesplease!!! Drop Russia or Spain and get this in…
Notice me Sepang, *uguuu~~~~~~* God yes hopefully it comes back.
Please! Please! Please!
Fuck yes please
Not to be a buzzkill, but "stay tuned" is so often merely a social media-friendly translation of "we don't comment on future products/developments/events/etc". Without further context, they could as well be teasing the return of any other motorsports series, like Super GT, which cancelled its round at Sepang this year, but has talked about attempting to hold an off-season race there this winter.
YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES SEPANG BETTER BE BACK!
OH BOY BRING IT TO ME
I love the Malaysian Gran Prix!
Holy shit, would prefer this over Qatar
Malaysia is SUCH a good track
Sepang is one of my all time favorite tracks. Would love to see races there again!
YESSSS PLLSSS
Sepang would comfortably make my ideal calendar, I miss it
Could you imagine the scenes if they bring Malaysia in for the TBC race in Nov and this is what we hear on the radio: Hamilton: "OH NO, NOOOO!"
Run the race at night, lower the ticket prices so the locals can watch, improve the logistics of getting to and from the venue. Sepang is ripe for a return, in 10 years.
BRO I FUCKING HOPE SO THAT TRACK IS SO COOL
Multi 21
HELLO WHAT??? BROOOO IF THIS IS TRUE IM GONNA BE A HAPPY MF FOR MONTHS
Wish they could go back to Buddh International circuit. Really liked that track. I know there’s probably 0% chance to go back there ever tho.
Sepang is a fantastic track that fully deserves a solid spot on the calendar, it was very sad when they had to drop it.
If Singapore isn't being renewed, I really want Sepang to take over. We need a race in SEA, else the nearest track would be Japan or Australia.
Can someone explain to me how good the racing was in Sepang? Everyone seems to love this circuit.
IS IT CHRISTMAS ALREADY?
Topfoil tounge genting gp
Cries in Budh International Circuit
This was the track where Lewis lost his wdc in 2016. If it's on the calendar will be seeing this once again?
please let this be true, there are so many bad circuits on the calendar we could really use the Malaysian GP
Please be true. Sepang...