F1 announces the return of the African GP, and less than 24 hours later, another country wants to become a regular part of the calendar.
On Friday, F1 excitedly announced that the sport will be coming back to Africa with the African Grand Prix set to take place in Bugesera, Rwanda, sometime in the early 2030s. Rwanda has signed a 10-year deal to host the race and plans to build a new track just outside the capital city, Kigali.
Less than a day after this news, another country showed interest in joining the F1 calendar again. Malaysia, an Asian nation, stepped in this year to successfully host a race after the Bahrain Grand Prix was canceled due to the Iran War. Malaysia held the race in place of Bahrain and now hopes to host more F1 events in the future.
Malaysia was actually a regular on the F1 schedule from 1999 to 2017. The recent 2026 race there was a big hit with both fans and drivers, inspiring the country to consider making a comeback. According to Motor Sport Week, Malaysia might prefer to host races on a rotational basis because of the high costs involved.
The Bahrain GP this year brought in around $233 million. After the race, Malaysia’s Youth and Sports Minister Dr. Mohammed Taufiq Johair shared that talks have already started between F1’s management and Malaysia’s Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. Malaysia seems really eager to host more races but is also cautious about the expenses.
Speaking to Reuters, Minister Taufiq said, “Staging F1 is not cheap. It involves quite substantial costs, and there are several important aspects that we need to assess.” He also pointed out how the race helps tourism and the economy, noting over 97,000 tickets sold and 50,000 tourists, with 5,000 people working at the event.
Now, Malaysia will carefully review the costs, potential benefits, and infrastructure needs before deciding on a permanent return to F1. This decision is expected by November. The minister also told Business Today, “In 2017, ticket sales were only about 30,000, compared to nearly 100,000 this year,” showing strong growth in interest.