SIC chief executive officer Azhan Shafriman Hanif said his team felt it was not the right time to host the F1 race again after taking into account the government’s efforts in helping the people rebuild their lives following the Covid-19 pandemic.

He said SIC also needed to consider several things, especially in terms of budget and support from various parties if the promoter was offered the opportunity to organise the race in the future.

“We should look at the big picture holistically, at how F1 can benefit not only the company but also Malaysia in terms of branding, ability to provide employment opportunities, talent development and others.

“So when we pay for the relatively high organising rights, the return should be high overall,” he told local media.

However, Azhan Shafriman said if there was an offer from F1, SIC would fully back efforts to bring the race back to Malaysia with support from the government and the private sector.

Earlier, youth and sports minister Ahmad Faizal Azumu was reported to have said that the government welcomed the help of the private sector to contribute towards bringing back the F1 to the country.

Faizal said that efforts to bring back the race would cost over RM200 million.

The GP was last held in 2017, the 19th edition since the circuit’s first race in 1999.

The three-day race attracted a total of 110,604 spectators, surpassing the targeted 102,000 spectators.

Of the total, 56,015 attended the actual race day.

In the last edition of the GP, Red Bull driver Max Verstappen came out tops, followed by Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes and Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull.