Optimise use of circuit

MALAYSIA’S decision to put the brakes on F1, as announced by Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz, is the right thing to do.

No doubt it has been a costly affair to host such a prestigious event as the Formula One Grand Prix and the country has benefited a lot ever since it began staging the event in October 1999.

The returns to staging the F1 were not up to par, if we were to see it in terms of ticket sales and spectators turnout, but tourism-wise, it was justifiable in putting Malaysia on the world event map.

Looking at the present world economic climate, it is not conducive to us to continue hosting the event if it means we are on the losing side monetarily because we have to spend RM300 million a year to organise and host the F1 race.

However, to say that the country has also not produced enough F1 drivers during the time is not accurate.

The F1 event has sparked a lot of interest among youth.

Sadly, the Malaysian dream to excel in this fast-lane sport lacks the motivation and imagination, though there have been some who have succeeded, like Alex Yoong.

There are two sides of the coin: To view the cost, and benefit, of such an upscale event. We may incur a lot of losses but we tend to also gain from it, maybe not directly but in the long term, we may win.

The question is how do we go about using the Sepang circuit to our advantage so that it doesn’t become a white elephant?

It is heartening to see that the Motorcycle Grand Prix or MotoGP has seen an increase in followers and that we have done well in churning out world-class riders.

The circuit is not totally abandoned with the scrapping of F1 in Malaysia come 2018.

However, we must start thinking creatively to optimise the use of the circuit and not wait until after the F1 lowers its curtain.