KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is considering hosting Formula One (F1) races every few years in partnership with another country, instead of committing to an annual event.
Youth and Sports Minister Dr Taufiq Johari said the government is assessing the cost and economic benefits of bringing back F1, with a report expected to be submitted to the Cabinet by November.
He said any decision would depend on whether Malaysia could generate sufficient returns without affecting allocations for athlete development and other sports.
"Hosting F1 is not cheap, and there are several important aspects that we need to evaluate," he said during Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat on Thursday.
The government had projected an economic impact of RM950 million from the 2026 F1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix at the Sepang International Circuit (SIC) from Oct 2-4.
The three-day event attracted about 261,000 visitors and sold more than 100,000 tickets, compared with around 30,000 tickets when Malaysia last hosted an F1 race in 2017.
A government committee involving several ministries and the chief secretary to the government is assessing the event's feasibility and return on investment to ensure its benefits extend beyond the Youth and Sports Ministry and SIC.
Taufiq was responding to Syahredzan Johan (PH-Bangi), who asked whether F1 would return to Malaysia and what factors, including hosting costs, would determine the decision.
He also told Datuk Wan Hassan Ramli (PN-Dungun) that the recent event was coordinated through a whole-of-government approach involving eight sub-committees and 532 volunteers.
Local entrepreneurs operating 40 booths at the Rasa Madani food and small and medium enterprise vendor carnival recorded more than RM550,000 in sales during the three-day event, he said.
On developing local racing talent, Taufiq said the ministry allocated RM5.6 million last year for 29 programmes covering 159 activities and competitions in two-wheel and four-wheel motorsports.
This year's initiatives include motocross track days, motorsports classes for women, go-karting, rally and minibike programmes, while SIC supports local drivers through competitions such as the Malaysia Touring Car Championship and Sepang 1000km.
"The priority was to widen access to motorsports development, including for young people in rural areas, so Malaysia could develop its own racing talent rather than remain a host and sponsor of international races," he said.
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