Sepang official issues clarification over Bahrain GP night race mix-up

A few days ago, it was announced that Malaysia will host the Sakhir Grand Prix, which had originally been scheduled for April before being postponed due to the conflict in the Middle East. The race had appeared set to return in October, but was ultimately confirmed with Sepang stepping in to host it.

Confusion spread online in recent hours after the Formula 1 app listed the race as running from 8pm to 10pm local time, despite Formula 1 never having raced under floodlights in Malaysia. The circuit lacks the permanent floodlighting infrastructure required to safely host a race after dark, unlike venues such as Singapore, Bahrain, Jeddah, Lusail and Yas Marina, which were specifically built to stage night races.

GPblog can indeed confirm that the times shown in the Formula 1 app were incorrect and appeared due to an error. Speaking to Bernama in a brief response, Hanif later confirmed: "The race will be held in the afternoon, not at night."

It will mark a long-awaited return for Malaysia, with the country set to host a Formula 1 race for the first time since 2017 after dropping off the calendar from 2018 onwards. Before that, Sepang had been a permanent fixture on the schedule every season from 1999 to 2017.

Sepang will be an entirely new challenge for a significant portion of the current Formula 1 grid. With the Malaysian venue absent from the championship since 2017, 12 of the 22 drivers have never driven a Formula 1 car there.

That group includes Charles Leclerc, George Russell, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, along with Alex Albon, Ollie Bearman, Gabriel Bortoleto, Franco Colapinto, Isack Hadjar, Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad. Every driver who entered Formula 1 after Sepang's last appearance on the calendar will be making their first competitive outing at the circuit.