Fast cars, slow queues: Malaysia hosts F1 race after 9 years, but some fans fume

KUALA LUMPUR: Motor racing fans attending the Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix at Malaysia's Sepang International Circuit (SIC) on Friday (Oct 2) have complained of long shuttle bus queues and poor crowd management, local media reported.

Malaysia is hosting the F1 event after the original Bahrain race could not go ahead in April due to the Iran war and the situation in the Middle East. 

Sepang previously hosted the Malaysian Grand Prix from 1999 to 2017 before Malaysia dropped it because of rising hosting costs and licensing fees.

In a report on Saturday, news outlet Malay Mail cited British content creator Ryan Howlett, who is based in Malaysia, as saying that he managed to board a bus at 9pm after waiting for more than three hours, describing the experience as “one of the craziest things” he had encountered.

Instagram user pompey1980 was also quoted by Free Malaysia Today (FMT) as saying that fans who turned up to watch Friday’s practice sessions had to wait for a shuttle for hours. 

“I’ve been to Grand Prix all over the world and not experienced chaos like this. And it’s only Friday. Dreading Saturday and Sunday,” the user said.

FMT also quoted Threads user mhd.adli describing “crazy scenes” at the circuit, claiming that people pushed one another and ran to catch buses as there was little crowd control. 

Social media users claimed thousands of people were waiting for buses in the evening.

“No signs. No lines. Just a complete free for all,” FMT quoted Reddit user SergeantTiller as saying.

The long queues for buses reportedly prompted some to walk several kilometres out of the area along main roads and motorways, with some of them posting their experiences on TikTok.

Other social media users also complained of traffic gridlock on Friday morning, as roads towards the circuit were closed to private and ride-hailing cars.

Reddit user Nicholsonstreet also lamented the long queues for water and food, a lack of free water refill stations as well as poor signage, FMT reported.

According to Malay Mail, transport operator Rapid KL had said that 95 free shuttle buses would run every 10 to 15 minutes from Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) Terminal 2, Mitsui Outlet Park and Bandar Baru Enstek between 7am and midnight, although frequencies were subject to traffic conditions.

More than 200,000 spectators were expected over the event from Oct 2 to 4, and racegoers had been advised to use public transport because of limited parking and expected congestion. 

Despite the complaints by some race fans, others were happy to be able to experience F1 in Malaysia again.

Malaysian Robert Poh, 38, drove from Penang with his family on Thursday and checked into a hotel in Kuala Lumpur before watching the action at Sepang the following day, The Star reported.

“My wife and I have been keeping up with the news about F1 for quite some time,” he was quoted as saying.

“When we heard it was coming back to Sepang, we knew we had to come down to watch for ourselves.”

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced on Friday that Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM) would broadcast the event live.

“I hope the live broadcast will give people across the country the opportunity to experience the thrill of a world-class race from the Sepang International Circuit,” he said in a social media post.

The qualifying race will be held at 4pm on Saturday, with the main race at 3pm on Sunday.