KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 24 — The Sepang International Circuit (SIC) today 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 to Bernama here.

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.

Earlier, it was reported that the fate of the F1 Grand Prix at the SIC will likely be known by the end of this week.

SIC Chief Executive Officer Datuk Razlan Razali was quoted as saying that there would be a special meeting to discuss the matter with SIC’s major stakeholder, the Ministry of Finance, on Thursday.

“The F1 ticket sales here have gone down since 2014.

“In contrast, the Malaysia Motorcycle GrandPrix (MotoGP) looks more promising in terms of attracting spectators and its potential spillover effects,” he said at a media briefing here today.           

Malaysia first started hosting the F1 race in Sepang in 1999.

Razlan, however, said he would be in no hurry to issue an official announcement on the discontinuation of the F1 race in Malaysia as SIC has a ‘watertight agreement’ with the licensed holder until 2018.

“A temporary withdrawal from F1 (after 2018) could be beneficial for the country to take a break. Currently, some say, the product (F1) is no longer exciting as it is being dominated by one team.

“An initial report for the last F1 race also showed that television viewership in Malaysia was the lowest in history,” he said, adding that Singapore’s F1 has also reportedly registered a 20 per cent decline in ticket sales.

Razlan hinted at SIC focusing on developing the MotoGP event.

MotoGP, the world’s biggest motorcycling event, was first staged at the Batu Tiga Circuit in Shah Alam in 1991 before shifting to the Pasir Gudang Circuit, Johor, in 1998 while the Sepang Circuit hosted its first MotoGP race in 1999.

This weekend, the Shell Malaysia MotoGP 2016, the 26th Malaysia MotoGP, is set to be another crowd-puller at SIC, following on the heels of last year’s sellout silver jubilee race.

“Last year we saw 85,000 spectators for our MotoGP. This year, as all the tickets have already been sold out, we target a record 90,000 spectators, inclusive of from the hill stands.

“Moving forward, if all parties collaborate, inclusive of the ministries of tourism, sports and communication, we may improve further,” he said. — Bernama