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As the F1 circus touches down in Malaysia, it is possible this week's race will be the seventeenth and last at Sepang. Early this year, Malaysian race officials travelled to London to discuss their expiring contract with F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone.
Now, on the eve of the 2015 edition, a deal for next year and beyond still has not been struck. It is obvious the stumbling block is Ecclestone's race fee demands. "We are still in discussion with Formula One Management and studying the latest terms of agreement," said Sepang chairman Mokhzani Mahathir.
"We want a win-win situation," he is quoted by Bernama news agency. "There are several issues which I'm still not very satisfied and if we can discuss this further, we will renew the contract for another three years."
The Sepang chief also revealed that reigning champions Mercedes have extended their title sponsorship deal with Petronas, the government-owned Malaysian oil company. "It is learnt that Petronas has extended its sponsorship of Mercedes AMG team for another three years, and as such, it will be an impetus to hold the F1 in Sepang," said Mokhzani. (GMM)
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G. Zhou
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Replies (2)
Login to replyianf1
Posts: 185
There's a common theme emerging here: The circuits can't afford the fee. If they do pay the fee then pass on the cost to the ticket buying public, people can't afford the tickets; the gate then dwindles meaning the circuit ends up making a loss. No one keeps a loss making event going long term. Bernie seems to be hell bent on killing off F1 imho.
khasmir
Posts: 893
Except for the filthy rich Gulf states like Bahrain, Qatar, ... those high fees will become more and more of a problem. Why would you organize a race if it will cost you loads of money with no chance of making a profit?
Dwindling viewer numbers, teams going bust, races being cancelled, ... If this continues it won't be long until some major sponsors start backing out and it all falls apart.
Makes you think what's going on in Bernie his mind. Maybe he thinks because he made F1 big business that he has the right to destroy it instead of leaving it in good hands.