The Malaysian grand prix will be a fixture on the formula one calendar until at least 2015, after race organisers and Bernie Ecclestone penned a new contract.
The original contract, starting with the inaugural race at Sepang in 1999, was for seven years. The agreement was then extended for a further five years in 2006 to run until 2010.
The latest extension is for another five years, taking the event through to 2015; despite Malaysia’s concerns about the bid of neighbouring Singapore and F1 supremo Ecclestone’s recent claim that the Hermann Tilke-penned circuit near Kuala Lumpur is starting to look “shabby”.
Malaysian prime minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi attended this year’s race, handing the winner’s trophy to Fernando Alonso, and remarked that he wanted the event to stay in his country.
