F1 recently announced that the Spanish Grand Prix will be heading to Madrid in 2026, and another calendar change could be in order for that year.
Petronas – sponsors of the Mercedes team – are looking to help bring the Malaysian Grand Prix back onto the F1 calendar in time for the 2026 season. The Sepang International Circuit is a favourite among supporters but has been absent since Max Verstappen took victory there in 2017.
Sepang first hosted a World Championship Grand Prix in 1999 with Eddie Irvine taking victory for Ferrari. The Malaysian GP went on to feature in every following F1 season until 2017 when Verstappen led the field over the chequered flag. Unfortunately, fans have been starved of action in the Southeast Asian country since then.
The track has cult-hero status among F1 diehards with several sensational races taking place on the Sepang International Circuit tarmac over the years. It played host to Kimi Raikkonen’s maiden win in 2003, as well as a titanic battle for victory between Fernando Alonso and a young Sergio Perez in 2012.
Malaysia also offered up some of the most biblical weather experienced at F1 races. In 2009 the race was hit with a thunderstorm that forced the FIA to award half points, while the 2001 Grand Prix saw Michael Schumacher turn in one of the all-time great wet-weather drives.
Since it departed from the calendar in 2017, fans have been clamouring for racing to return to Malaysia, and they may soon have their wish. According to a report from Reuters, state oil company Petronas is involved in a plot to restore the Sepang International Circuit to the F1 calendar in 2026.
This revelation is an encouraging one given the comments of Tan Sri Mokhzani Mahathir – president of the Motorsports Association of Malaysia – last year. He explained: “In terms of being the host, it is not a problem.
It is a question of who is going to pay and whether we can afford it or not. I have no idea what is it (the cost) right now, but definitely it is higher than when we stopped in 2017.” With Petronas on board, the funding of the event promises to be less of an issue.
The news of Sepang’s rumoured return comes just weeks after the confirmation that a part-street circuit, part-road course venue in the capital city of Madrid will host the Spanish Grand Prix from 2026 onwards, placing the future of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya into doubt.
