3,700 Miles From Home: Why F1's Bahrain GP Is Racing in Malaysia

Why doesn't F1 just cancel the Bahrain GP for good?

It probably would have been logistically simpler for F1 and the Bahrain promoter to cancel the Bahrain Grand Prix without trying to reschedule it later in the year, but there are plenty of reasons why they would fight so hard to make it happen. And while money isn’t the only factor, it’s definitely the one most fans will immediately focus on. So, let’s start there.

In order to host a Formula 1 race, every round on the calendar must pay something called a ‘hosting fee.’ In effect, this is a multi-million dollar paycheck that each venue has to provide to Formula 1 in exchange for the right to host a Grand Prix. As we've written about before here on FanAmp, F1 race hosting and promotion fees made up just over 31% of Formula 1's total revenue in 2025. And the two races cancelled early in 2026 — Bahrain and Saudi Arabia — are believed to pay more than almost every venue.

The exact numbers are not made public, but it is believed that Bahrain pays upwards of $60 million each year to host F1, while Saudi Arabia's number sits closer to $72 million, according to The Independent. (For contrast, classic European venues like Monza, Monaco, and Spa are understood to pay less than $35 million per year.)

If there is no race, then there is no reason to charge a sanctioning fee. Formula 1 loses money — and if it were to have lost both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia for good, it would have lost a significant portion of the funds it had expected to make this year.

Now that Bahrain is going on as planned, though, the organizers still have to pay a sanctioning fee for this race, which, per BusinessToday Malaysia, is expected to cost around $70 to $80 million. Add in that F1 can once again sell race weekend sponsorships and advertisements, and the financial upside really offsets the logistical chaos of adding an extra stop in Malaysia.

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Why does Bahrain still want its Grand Prix?

Formula 1 rescheduling the Bahrain Grand Prix to take place in Malaysia makes sense from its financial point of view… but what does Bahrain get by paying to host a race outside of its own borders?

As I talked about when covering why Azerbaijan needs Formula 1, the main incentives for hosting a Grand Prix are to put your country on the map, change opinions about that country, and ideally make a little money along the way. If Bahrain has to host a race in Malaysia, it isn't making any money from tourists, nor does it have as great an opportunity to impact the world's perception of it. But that influence is not zero.

You see, the Bahrain Grand Prix may be physically taking place in Malaysia, but everything about the race will point back to Bahrain. The race name, track signage, primary sponsor, promotional materials, and media coverage will all feature the phrase ‘Bahrain Grand Prix.’ As a result, F1 fans who watch at home or interact with the sport on social media will still be building positive mental associations with Bahrain. That impact can't be underestimated; as Reuters reported, a Nielsen Sports study in early 2026 estimated that the average global audience for each Grand Prix is 76.1 million (excluding YouTube); that exposure is critical for the country of Bahrain and its businesses, such as the national airline—Gulf Air—which serves as the title sponsor for the race, and the country's sovereign wealth fund—Mumtalakat—which owns 100% of the McLaren Group (meaning it owns both McLaren's road car program and its F1 program).

Naturally, it'd be better for Bahrain if the race actually took place within its own borders, but when the choice is between hosting a race in Malaysia or not hosting a race at all, the choice is clear.

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Can an F1 Grand Prix be named for something other than its host country?

Speaking of the race name, what precedent gave way to a race in Malaysia retaining the Bahrain Grand Prix name?

Though it's been rare, there have indeed been a handful of F1 races in the sport's history that were not actually named after the country in which they took place. And no, I'm not talking about events like the European Grand Prix or the Pacific Grand Prix, that were named for a general region.

I'm talking about races like the 1982 Swiss Grand Prix, which was actually hosted at the Dijon-Prenois circuit in France, or the 1997 and 1998 Luxembourg Grand Prix which took place at the Nürburgring in Germany.

The reason for these name changes was a little simpler than our current geopolitical conflict surrounding Bahrain. In the case of both the Swiss and Luxembourg races, F1 was just getting a little creative with its race names because there were already races scheduled in France and Germany that would have taken the French Grand Prix and German Grand Prix monikers. In the 1980s and 1990s, Formula One Management (FOM), which is in charge of promoting F1, generally tried to stick with country-specific naming conventions as a way to signal prestige. So, the second race in countries like France or Germany would take on the name of the nearest country to not host a race.

That convention has changed over the years. The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is named after the capital city of the United Arab Emirates rather than for the country itself. In 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the start of the F1 season and required multiple races at the same venue, the FOM got more creative. The second race at Silverstone was called the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix, the second event in Bahrain was called the Sakhir Grand Prix, the event in Germany was named the Eifel Grand Prix, and because Italy hosted three races that year, the Italian Grand Prix was joined by the Tuscan Grand Prix and the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix. Plus, the addition of more races in America meant the FOM had to name those events after the cities, not the country, that hosted them.

This flexibility very likely helped Bahrain retain its race name despite any confusion it may initially cause fans.

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What does Malaysia get by hosting the Bahrain Grand Prix?

Between 1999 and 2017, the Sepang International Circuit played host to the annual Malaysian Grand Prix. Even though drivers in that period loved the track, track promoters couldn't justify the cost of hosting the race there.

Back in 2017, then-CEO of Sepang, Razlan Razali, told Reuters that the Grand Prix wasn't worth the rumored $40 million required to host it each year.

“It’s hard to sell this kind of event and to get bums on the seats,” Razali said. “It’s not worth the investment at the moment.”

Unfortunately, those comments came just before F1's global explosion following the introduction of Netflix docuseries Drive to Survive. While ticket sales were indeed declining for venues like Malaysia back in 2017, F1 is now announcing sell-out crowds at almost every single race. Sepang is going to have to pay for its own circuit upgrades, infrastructure, and transportation, but by having Bahrain pay the sanctioning fee, it can evaluate interest in the return of the circuit without having to commit to making it a permanent event. If enough fans turn up, it can give race organizers the confidence they need to stage a comeback.

And of course, there’s the broader economic spillover from local and international fans alike, with the same BusinessToday Malaysia article citing an estimate from Malaysian investment bank Hong Leong Investment Bank (HLIB) of $270-320M in additional economic output.

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Why Sepang and not another race track?

In order to host a Formula 1 Grand Prix, a race circuit must receive a Grade 1 evaluation from the FIA. Basically, that means the track conforms to the standards of construction and safety that you'd expect from a world-class racing venue.

Right now, there are currently 35 different Grade 1 circuits in the world — and 24 of them were already scheduled to host F1 races in 2026. While we saw some tracks host two races during the COVID-19 pandemic, the logistics behind that move make it seriously unappealing. All tracks pay tens of millions of dollars in hosting fees for the privilege of bringing F1 to their track; they'd have to pay even more money in order to host a second race. Plus, Formula 1 itself wants to have as diverse a calendar as possible to expand global reach. During the pandemic, those doubleheaders were necessary to fulfill minimum event quotas with broadcasters; in 2026, when we're talking about the cancellation of just a few events, there isn't the same pressure.

That left just 11 tracks to choose from when it came to rescheduling a race, and the location was largely dictated by the fact that there was just one single gap in the calendar to work with: the off-weekend between the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on September 26 and the Singapore Grand Prix on October 11. Returning to Europe would have been a challenge. Conflict in Russia and the Middle East nixed several other tracks. Then you have tracks like the Korea International Circuit which were eliminated because they don't host any global racing events, and F1 would prefer to compete somewhere with a guaranteed track record.

The main circuit left was Sepang. It hosts MotoGP — a series which, like F1, is owned by Liberty Media — each year, with the next such race scheduled for the final weekend of October. Liberty Media is looking to expand its reach in Asia. The flight from Malaysia to Singapore is just about one hour, and Sepang is down the road from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. And best of all, the circuit was interested. After a few conversations with the Bahrain Grand Prix organizers, everything fell into place.

Getting the race over the finish line took significant work that may never fully come to light. What is evident is that in over 75 years of existence, F1 has never had to figure out how to reschedule a race that had to be cancelled over ongoing conflict in the region, which means the sport and Bahrain’s organizers were rewriting the playbook in real time. But rewriting the playbook isn’t the same as starting from scratch, and with some effort, the Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia is about to make history.