SINGAPORE: The move to axe the Malaysian Grand Prix from the Formula One (F1) calendar had been expected as it is “mostly a marketing exercise”, said former F1 driver Alex Yoong.
Yoong, who was the first Malaysian to race in F1, told Channel NewsAsia’s PrimeTime Asia that the annual fixture was meant to put the country on the world map. “It has been a 20-year marketing exercise and marketing exercises have shelf lives. So I’ve always felt for a few years now it was coming to its end,” said Yoong, who raced with Minardi in 2001 and 2002.