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Malaysian Grand Prix chief Razlan Razali has lashed out at former CEO of Formula 1 Bernie Ecclestone, as the country will host it's last race this October in Sepang.
It was announced at the start of this month that the Malaysian Grand Prix would not be on the calendar in 2018. The announcement wasn't a real surprise as the promoters had previously announced their intentions to fund drivers rather than the track.
High costs also damaged the future event, with Ecclestone recently admitting that he wished he had charged tracks less to host a race. The high costing contract has forced Malaysia to withdraw their Grand Prix after 17 years on the calendar: "For him to come out with that statement, we can't help but feel suckered by him in some ways and quite disappointed," Razali told City AM.
But he also admitted disappointment with Ecclestone's successors at Liberty Media, alleging they rejected a plan to let Sepang go out on a high in October.
"We presented them with what we feel would be a good plan. Unfortunately, it is something that they can't help us with. We are not so convinced in how they can improve Formula 1 if they can't even help us in our final event."
Fergal Walsh
A few reasonable complaints from them, I must say. Ecclestone has certainly not made things easy for many of the tracks, I can imagine Nürburg and Monza would've had an easier time had he not charged so much for each event. I wonder what kind of high note the Malysian hosts were referring to.
Ecclestone did good by shareholders, but in the process mutilated the sport fanbase and made F1 less attractive. If you dedicate all your efforts to milking money, you lose the overall perspective. You cannot retain current fans or attract new fans by forcing expensive TV subscriptions, pay-per-view, or insanely high ticket prices.
It will take a long time and a lot of effort to make F1 as popular as in, say 2007
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renaultFanF1
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Ecclestone did good by shareholders, but in the process mutilated the sport fanbase and made F1 less attractive. If you dedicate all your efforts to milking money, you lose the overall perspective. You cannot retain current fans or attract new fans by forcing expensive TV subscriptions, pay-per-v... [Read more]