> The race is over and the decision is still open. Max Verstappen won the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia at Sepang on 4 October 2026. Whether F1 comes back now goes to Cabinet: Sepang International Circuit (SIC) expects to present its feasibility study in the third week or towards the end of November 2026, and says the slots open to Malaysia only begin in 2029. As of 5 November 2026 we found no report of a decision.
This page tracked tickets for the race, then became a recap. It now leads with the return question, because that is the part still moving, and keeps the race and ticket record below it.
Will F1 come back to Sepang?
Not on any published calendar. Formula1.com's 2027 calendar, read on 5 November, has 24 rounds and no Malaysian race. The Bahrain Grand Prix goes home as the season opener on 12-14 March 2027, with pre-season testing there on 24-27 February.
Where the decision stands:
- Who decides: Cabinet. Youth and Sports Minister Dr Mohammed Taufiq Johari told the Dewan Rakyat on 15 October that a committee of ministries and the Chief Secretary to the Government is assessing the costs and returns.
- When: SIC CEO Azhan Shafriman Hanif said after MotoGP on 1 November that the study should reach Cabinet in the third week or towards the end of November, depending on the meeting slot. That date is for the presentation. Nobody has promised an answer the same day.
- Earliest race: Azhan said the slots open to Malaysia "only begin in 2029", based on preliminary talks with F1's commercial rights holders. ESPN's paddock sources had said 2030 at the earliest in October. SIC also plans to discuss what else it could do with F1 in the near term, with no details given.
- Odds: Azhan's own word on 26 October was "50-50".
- Format: It may not be an annual race. Taufiq said F1 management proposed that Malaysia host every few years, in collaboration with other countries, and that the government is considering it.
- Conditions: Taufiq said hosting must not take money from athlete development and other sports. SIC said its study also looks at traffic congestion and public transport, which is where the October weekend failed.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said he raised a permanent return with F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali before the race, and also said it will take time because the calendar is full and existing hosts have contracts. FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem said a return is possible but depends on a credible long-term plan.
What this means for you: there is nothing to buy or book. With no race on any calendar, anyone selling a "Malaysian GP" ticket or package today is selling something that does not exist.
The money behind the decision
Malaysia left the calendar after 2017 mainly over cost, so these are the numbers Cabinet has to weigh.
- Cost of a permanent slot: at least RM300 million a race, SIC's estimate. That includes hosting-rights fees of US$70 million to US$80 million (reported as RM289 million to RM340 million) plus local preparation.
- Contract length: then-minister Hannah Yeoh told Parliament in August 2025 that hosts typically commit to three or five years, so up to about RM1.5 billion.
- Why 2026 was cheap for Malaysia: Bahrain covered most of the bill, including the rights fee, which ESPN estimated at about US$50 million. Malaysia's own share has been reported differently: RM10 million to RM16 million on preparations in one report, about RM40 million including track and local organising costs in another.
- The claimed return: nearly RM950 million in economic impact. This is a ministry estimate, which The Star describes as an initial projection, and we have not seen a published method for it. Azhan says most hosts earn back at least three times their spending, which would turn RM300 million into about RM1 billion.
Read those two sides together and the gap is plain. The RM950 million came from a weekend when Malaysia did not pay the rights fee, and from a crowd that had waited nine years. Ticket sales were about 100,000, against about 30,000 at the last Malaysian GP in 2017, which sold poorly. Taufiq himself said the government must assess whether future races would draw the same interest.
What happened on race day
Officially it was the Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, Round 16 of the 2026 season, moved to Sepang after Bahrain's April race was called off because of the conflict in the Middle East. Bahrain was the promoter; SIC was the venue.
- The start was delayed twice. Torrential rain pushed the 3pm start back by about 40 minutes. Then the formation lap was abandoned when cars across the field reported power-unit software problems, and race control suspended proceedings. The race finally got going at 4:33pm.
- The full 56 laps were run. It began on intermediates, a Safety Car on lap 9 (Valtteri Bottas in the gravel) triggered the switch to slicks, and a second Safety Car bunched the field near the end.
- Verstappen won from pole in 1:47:14.808, his and Red Bull's first win of 2026. He was also the last driver to win at Sepang, back in 2017.
- Podium: Verstappen, Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes, +2.307s), Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari, +4.919s). Hamilton started on the front row, fell to 18th after Ferrari's early switch to slicks, and fought back to third.
- Rest of the top 10: Charles Leclerc, Isack Hadjar, Oscar Piastri, Liam Lawson, Fernando Alonso, Lando Norris, Arvid Lindblad.
- George Russell retired from third in the closing laps with a suspected power-unit failure, which stretched team-mate Antonelli's championship lead to 84 points.
How the season went from there: Sepang started Verstappen's run. He also won Singapore on 11 October and Mexico City on 1 November, with Antonelli winning in Austin in between. Antonelli clinched the 2026 title in Mexico City by finishing third, becoming F1's youngest world champion at 20 years and 68 days, on 380 points. Four rounds remain: São Paulo (6-8 November), Las Vegas (19-21 November), Qatar (27-29 November) and Abu Dhabi (4-6 December).
The crowd: a Sepang record, and a hard trip home
Bahrain International Circuit said 261,000 fans came over the weekend, with 103,000 on race day. The previous Malaysian Grand Prix record was 126,690 in 2008. Read the 261,000 as daily entries rather than different people: the ministry put ticket sales at about 100,000, and every ticket covered all three days. F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali singled out the atmosphere the Malaysian crowd created.
The logistics did not keep up. ESPN's report on 5 October described:
- shuttle buses that stopped without warning, with fans walking up to 11km and crowds stranded on motorway hard shoulders;
- hour-long queues at grandstand gates and food stalls;
- water refill stations running dry while plastic bottles were banned, so fans had to buy drinks;
- 50 ambulances deployed on Friday alone for heat-related cases;
- a Saturday concert planned for about 10,000 people drawing more than 50,000;
- some fans getting back to their hotels 10 to 11 hours after the session ended.
As of 5 November we found no published post-event review or compensation scheme. If you went and have a complaint about transport or facilities, the promoter was Bahrain International Circuit, which ran ticketing through bahraingp.com.
What the tickets cost, for the record
If Sepang ever gets another race, this is the benchmark, though Malaysia would be setting prices to cover a rights fee Bahrain paid this time. Tickets went on sale on 13 August 2026 through bahraingp.com only, priced in ringgit for MyKad holders but charged in Bahraini Dinar. The RM200 "Madani" G Hillstand ticket (MyKad only) sold out within days. Dr Taufiq confirmed the sell-out on 17 August. By 4 September the cheapest MyKad ticket left was RM809.60 (C or K2 Hillstand), the Main Grandstand was RM2,083.40, and F1 Paddock Club cost €5,576.87. Every ticket covered all three days.
The big races you can plan for now
F1 Singapore Grand Prix, 8-10 October 2027 (Marina Bay). The closest F1 race to Malaysia, and 2027 tickets are already selling. The 2026 race sold out, and singaporegp.sg now shows 2027 Early Bird general tickets as sold out too. The list we read on 5 November (Singapore dollars, GST included, all three-day):
- Zone 4 Walkabout: S$598
- Stamford Grandstand: S$638 (junior S$438)
- Connaught, Padang and Empress Grandstands: S$768
- Pit Grandstand: S$1,888 (junior S$888)
- Turn 1, Turn 2 and Marina Bay Grandstands: S$1,798
- Paddock Club and Sky Suite: sold out
We read the list only and did not test checkout, so a category shown there can still be out of stock. Buy from singaporegp.sg or the resellers it names; group-chat resale is where fake tickets turn up. The JB-Singapore RTS Link is slated to start in January 2027, though the exact date and fare have not been announced, so it could change how you get down.
MotoGP: PETRONAS Grand Prix of Malaysia, 22-24 October 2027 (Sepang). This one has a contract to 2031 and needs no Cabinet decision. The date is provisional, two weeks after Singapore. No grandstand tickets or 2027 prices were out when our guide last checked on 2 November. For reference, 2026 ran from RM49.90 (K2 Hillstand, MyKad only) to RM640, the cheapest zones sold out, and SIC says it is reviewing prices. Details are in our MotoGP Sepang tickets guide.
Elsewhere on the 2027 F1 calendar: Australia (2-4 April), Japan (9-11 April) and China (16-18 April) run back to back if you are planning a trip.
Lessons from F1 weekend for any big Sepang race: bring a refillable bottle and check the current bottle rules before you leave, plan your exit before the final lap rather than after, and don't count on a shuttle being there at 9pm. Parking at KLIA and taking a train is often faster than driving to the gate.
