Malaysian Grand Prix

The 1962 to 1965 seasons of the original Grand Prix held on the Thomson Road circuit in Singapore is regarded as an earlier precedence of the Malaysian Grand Prix, when Singapore was part of Malaysia from 1963 to 1965. After Singapore seceded from the federation in 1965, the Grand Prix continued until 1973.

Between Singapore's departure from the Malaysian federation and the opening of Sepang Circuit, Malaysia hosted a range of other racing categories in the Malaysian Grand Prix at Shah Alam's own circuit between 1968 and 1995 including Formula Libre (1968), Tasman Formula, (1969-1972), Formula Atlantic (1973–1975), Formula Two (1977) Formula Pacific (1978–1982) and Formula Brabham (1995).

As part of a series of major infrastructure projects in the 1990s under Mahathir Mohamad's government, the Sepang International Circuit was constructed between 1997 and 1999 close to Putrajaya, the then-newly founded administrative capital of the country, with the intent of hosting the Malaysian Grand Prix. Similar to other of the country's circuits, the circuit is known for its unpredictable humid tropical weather, varying from clear furnace hot days to tropical rain storms.

The inaugural Grand Prix at Sepang was held in 1999, and saw Michael Schumacher return to the sport after his absence due to a broken leg sustained at that year's British Grand Prix.[1] Ferrari dominated the race, with Schumacher handing the victory to title-hopeful teammate Eddie Irvine, only for both Ferraris to be disqualified due to a technical irregularity, before later being reinstated.[2]

From 2001, the Malaysian Grand Prix moved from the end of the season to the beginning, which has seen some topsy-turvy results as teams and drivers got to grips with their new equipment, with many races heavily influenced by the winners and losers of the scramble for position into the tight double hairpin bend at the first corner.[3]

The 2001 event was hit by a heavy rainstorm in the middle of the race which made conditions very difficult. Conditions were so bad that the two Ferraris of Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello spun off almost simultaneously at the same corner. Remarkably, they both recovered to score a Ferrari 1–2, because for a long time they were nearly 5 seconds faster than anyone else on the field. Elsewhere, the race was even led by Jos Verstappen, surprisingly. However, as the track begun to dry, he fell back to seventh, but his efforts to keep positions were memorable.[4]

On 8 April 2007, shortly before the 2007 Malaysian Grand Prix, Formula One president Bernie Ecclestone was quoted as stating that the circuit was getting "shabby" and "a bit tired" from the lack of care, describing it as "an old house that needs a bit of redecorating". He noted that the circuit itself is not the issue, but rather the surrounding environment; rubbish is said to be littered all over the place, potentially damaging the circuit's good reputation when it was opened in 1999.[5]

The day before, Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had met Ecclestone to discuss an extension of the Formula One contract beyond 2010.[5] While the government had been given an additional extension to host the Grand Prix until 2015, the government was still mulling the offer, as of 23 April 2007.[6] The circuit was given a renewed contract in 2006 to organise the Malaysian Grand Prix for another five years.[5]

On 13 February 2008, the management of the Sepang International Circuit announced its aim to become Formula One's second night race from 2009 after Singapore, following discussions about buying a floodlighting system. Mokhzani Mahathir, the chairman of the circuit, was quoted as saying that the lights "might be custom made for the circuit."[7] However, the organisers ended up settling for a late-afternoon start time.[8]

The 2009 Malaysian Grand Prix was held around sunset, starting at 17:00 local time (09:00 UTC). This proved disastrous due to heavy rainfall. The race was red-flagged and ultimately not restarted due to the low light level making it through the clouds. The race ended on lap 33, and with the regulations requiring 42 laps for full points, both driver and constructor results were halved in relation to points.[9]

On 7 April 2017, it was announced that the 2017 race will be the swansong of the Malaysian Grand Prix.[10][11] The race's contract was due to expire in 2018, but its future had been under threat due to rising hosting fees and declining ticket sales.[12] Malaysia's youth and sports minister at the time Khairy Jamaluddin said on Twitter: "I think we should stop hosting the F1. At least for a while. Cost too high, returns limited. When we first hosted the F1 it was a big deal. First in Asia outside Japan. Now so many venues. No first mover advantage. Not a novelty."[13] The BBC reported that "Malaysia had struggled in recent years to attract a significant crowd, its appeal having been damaged by the more glamorous night-time event on a street track in Singapore."[14]

A pink background indicates an event which was not part of the Formula One World Championship.

Wins	Driver	Years won
4	John MacDonald	1970, 1971, 1973, 1975
	Sebastian Vettel	2010, 2011, 2013, 2015
3	Michael Schumacher	2000, 2001, 2004
	Fernando Alonso	2005, 2007, 2012
2	Albert Poon	1963, 1965
	Andrew Miedecke	1981, 1982
	Kimi Räikkönen	2003, 2008

A pink background indicates an event which was not part of the Formula One World Championship.

Wins	Constructor	Years won
7	Ferrari	1999, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2015
5	Red Bull	2010, 2011, 2013, 2016, 2017
4	March	1972, 1977, 1978, 1979
	Ralt	1975, 1980, 1981, 1982
3	Brabham	1970, 1971, 1973
2	Lotus	1963, 1965
	Elfin	1968, 1969
	McLaren	2003, 2007
	Renault	2005, 2006

A pink background indicates an event which was not part of the Formula One World Championship.

Wins	Constructor	Years won
15	Ford *	1963, 1965, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982
7	Ferrari	1999, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2015
5	Renault	2005, 2006, 2010, 2011, 2013
4	Mercedes **	2003, 2007, 2009, 2014
2	BMW	1977, 2002
	TAG Heuer ***	2016, 2017

* Built by Cosworth

** Built by Ilmor in 2003

*** Built by Renault

A pink background indicates an event which was not part of the Formula One World Championship.
The official name of the 1962 race was "Malayan Grand Prix".

Year	Driver	Car	Class	Location	Report
1962	Yong Nam Kee [34]	Jaguar E-Type [34]		Thomson Road	Report
1963	Albert Poon [34]	Lotus 23 [34]			Report
1964	Rained out after 7 laps. [34]
1965	Albert Poon [35]	Lotus 23 [35]		Thomson Road	Report
1966 – 1967	Not held as Thomson Road circuit was now in an independent Singapore. Thomson Road circuit held the Singapore Grand Prix until 1973.
1968	Hengkie Irawan [36]	Elfin 600-Ford [36]	Formula Libre [36]	Shah Alam	Report
1969	Tony Maw [37]	Elfin 600-Ford [37]	Tasman Formula		Report
1970	John MacDonald	Brabham-Ford	Tasman Formula		Report
1971	John MacDonald	Brabham-Ford	Tasman Formula		Report
1972	Harvey Simon	Elfin-Ford	Tasman Formula		Report
1973	Sonny Rajah	March-Ford	Formula Atlantic		Report
1974	John MacDonald	Ralt-Ford	Formula Atlantic		Report
1975	John MacDonald	Ralt-Ford	Formula Atlantic		Report
1976	Not held
1977	Patrick Tambay	March-BMW	Formula Two	Shah Alam	Report
1978	Graeme Lawrence	March-Ford	Formula Pacific		Report
1979	Ken Smith	March-Ford	Formula Pacific		Report
1980	Steve Millen	Ralt-Ford	Formula Pacific		Report
1981	Andrew Miedecke	Ralt-Ford	Formula Pacific		Report
1982	Andrew Miedecke	Ralt-Ford	Formula Pacific		Report
1983 – 1994	Not held
1995	Paul Stokell	Reynard-Holden	Formula Brabham	Shah Alam	Report
1996 – 1998	Not held
1999	Eddie Irvine	Ferrari	Formula One	Sepang	Report
2000	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	Formula One		Report
2001	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	Formula One		Report
2002	Ralf Schumacher	Williams-BMW	Formula One		Report
2003	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren-Mercedes	Formula One		Report
2004	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	Formula One		Report
2005	Fernando Alonso	Renault	Formula One		Report
2006	Giancarlo Fisichella	Renault	Formula One		Report
2007	Fernando Alonso	McLaren-Mercedes	Formula One		Report
2008	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	Formula One		Report
2009	Jenson Button	Brawn-Mercedes	Formula One		Report
2010	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault	Formula One		Report
2011	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault	Formula One		Report
2012	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	Formula One		Report
2013	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault	Formula One		Report
2014	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	Formula One		Report
2015	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	Formula One		Report
2016	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer	Formula One		Report
2017	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer	Formula One		Report