Formula One news

Malaysia says no to night race

The Malaysian Grand Prix will not become the next F1 night race, despite talk earlier this year and pressure from Bernie Ecclestone to make the event take place at a more hospitable hour for European television audiences.

Despite the success of the Singapore Grand Prix, officials in Malaysia are reluctant to spend even more on the F1 race by way of installing the expensive lighting system around the track.

Instead there has been something of a compromise and the 2009 Malaysian Grand Prix will start at 5pm local time instead of 3pm. 

"It will still be daylight and about 7pm when the new race finishes and for fans in Europe and Britain, it would be about 10am. We are not going to lose out," Sepang International Circuit chairman Datuk Mokhzani Mahathir told the Malaysian Star newspaper. "The lighting costs quite a bit and this is an effort to keep the cost of F1 in Malaysia down. And Bernie Ecclestone has agreed."

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