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📍🟡 “When people pay RM2,000 for a grandstand ticket for a three-day event, the idea is to bring back that value or even more. The spectators are very smart, they know what they’re paying for.”
Azhan Shafriman Hanif, CEO of the Sepang International Circuit talks about:
• How Sepang prepared for the Bahrain Grand Prix in 2 months
• What to expect during the Bahrain Grand Prix in Sepang
• What determines F1’s return to Malaysia
Watch the full podcast on BFM’s YouTube channel or via the link in our bio.
This episode was filmed on 27 September 2026.
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Transcript
We have not seen this ticket sales in the past before. The previous Formula One that we did, we sold around 30 tier 40,000. Now this is three times the amount of tickets that we have sold. What's changed since 2017 that now justifies saying, hey, maybe we should look at f one again despite the fact that we dropped it in tier? So in the past, in our contract, there was no, segment to look into tier spectator minimum requirement. Right? So this plays a major part in bringing people to the circuit because when you come to a circuit, I mean, for those who are very hardcore fans of motorsports, they would love to see the worst. They would love to see the drivers. They would love to see all the things that's happening on the track. What happens in between is the difference. So when you come over to Sepang this weekend, you won't see a typical Malaysian, setup. There's a Bahrain village, in the Fanzone area, whereby they're gonna, feature all tier culture, all the food, and all the hospitality, that Bahrain brings, to the world. And interestingly is the, basically, the type of entertainment that they're bringing. No, typically, what we do is there's an after rank concert that we see in the past. Yeah. This time around, in between the the practice session, in between the qualifying session, in between before the race happens and everything, there's a lot of things that is gonna happen, in the fan zone. There's be a lot of side shows, magic shows, shows for kids, performances, and there's a lot of little things that people can do. The atmosphere, the festival like, event that f one brings as compared to before has changed. Hey. You're doing a great sales job of, selling this to me as well, Shaf. Because before this, I said, I'm gonna invite friends. We're gonna watch it at home and be excited about it. But this highlights the importance of making these things feel like events to attend them. It's not just about the rank, it's about the... What's happening around the races as well to keep people entertained because what is this if not entertainment?
