Malaysia GP contract not yet signed
We reported at the weekend that the event at Sepang will be a fixture of the annual calendar until at least 2015, due to the existence of a new agreement extending the current deal, which ends in 2010.
But the local newspaper Straits Times insists that the Malaysian government has not yet decided whether to sign the formula one document, which has been received by circuit chairman Datuk Mokhzani Mahathir.
"We have not signed it yet," he confirmed, explaining that the contract contains several new clauses, probably relating to necessary improvements to the circuit that was described recently as "shabby" by F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone.
Relations between Malaysia and Ecclestone may also be strained due to the possibility of a grand prix in nearby Singapore; Sepang officials think the region should have only one race.
But Mokhzani insisted that the improvements will be made to the slightly outdated venue near Kuala Lumpur as soon as a new contract is signed.
04/22/07 (GMM) The Malaysian grand prix will be a fixture on the formula one calendar until at least 2015, after race organizers 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 neighboring 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.