There will be six Formula 4 South East Asia at the upcoming 2017 Petronas Formula 1 Malaysian Grand Prix. It would be quite a unique event as this will be the last time that Sepang will be hosting a Formula 1 race. F4 SEA is actually one of the stepping stones for budding race drivers, who will step into them from karting usually. So this time, one interesting support race is going to be made up of a whole lot of F4 races on the 1st of October, 2017.
F4 SEA is one of 12 global F4 championships designed to help drivers cost-effectively transition from karting to formula sport. Offering a 30-race championship for Euro100,000, approximately half the cost of the equivalent championship in Europe, F4SEA is licenced to race in Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, India, Vietnam, Cambodia and Taiwan. All emerging motorsport markets can benefit from the F4SEA cost-effective ‘one concept’ championship:
One make: all cars are identical FIA-homologated chassis and engine built to FIA F1 crash test spec
One team: Meritus.GP is the exclusive race engineering service provider
One cost: all-inclusive fee of Euro100,000 (plus registration, any damage and wet tyres)
One data: all drivers’ data and team’s historic data is accessible to all
One dream: win 12 FIA Super Licence points
One interesting detail about the race service provider Meritus.GP is that the outfit handles everything in terms of cars and they are actually based in Malaysia. This is one major motorsport spillover in terms of the local development of Motorsport here. Such a company would not have been able to exist were it not for the Sepang International Circuit and the whole Malaysian F1 thingy.
F1 may be gone after this, but many things motorsport have come out of it.
Malaysian Prime Minister Dato Sri Mohd Najib voices his support for Formula 4 SEA
"I would like to thank the new Formula1 CEO, Mr Chase Carey, for scheduling six races for our Formula 4 Championship at the 2017 Petronas Formula1 Malaysian Grand Prix. The Formula1
World Championship is a great podium to promote Malaysian engineering skills and our talented
sportsmen such as Nazim Azman and Isyraf Danish. I look forward to celebrating the success of
our FIA Formula 4 SEA Championship at Sepang on the 1st October.”
30 August 2017, Kuala Lumpur - Formula 1 has inspired a generation and branded a nation. In
1999 the world became acquainted with a small visionary country nestled in the South China Sea
through the first ever F1 ‘Super Circuit’ at Sepang. Malaysia has had the honour of hosting the
Formula 1 Grand Prix here for almost two decades, kick-starting a myriad of motorsport-related
industries, rejuvenating sectors of the economy and magnetising the world to seemingly endless
investment possibilities.
Formula1’s arrival in Malaysia created a niche in the tourism industry that continues to thrive,
triggered vast development projects and an enormous foreign exchange climate that helped
Malaysia move ever closer to becoming a high-earning developed nation.
The prospect of F1 is what initially attracted the promoters of FIA Formula 4 SEA to Malaysia.
Since 1996 they have helped 7 skilled drivers including Rio Haryanto, Narain Karthikeyan, Takuma
Sato and Jazeman Jaafar to test or race in Formula1, while talents such as Daniel Woodroof, Afiq
Ikhwan and many others got their start with entry-level championships such as AsiaCup, which is
now upgraded to the Formula 4 South East Asia Championship – certified by the FIA.
Malaysia’s investment in F1 churned up massive interest from the younger generation eager to
explore opportunities in motor racing and they are now pursuing motorsport-related careers such
as automotive and mechanical engineering, racecar dynamics and analytics, sports journalism,
event management and education. For the past 20 years the team behind Formula 4 SEA have
been training and developing Malaysians and building an ‘Asian Autosport Ecosystem’ to create
and employ a highly-skilled workforce and promote entrepreneurism.
In the wake of Formula 1, this sporting ecosystem continues to grow, commencing with the
Formula 4 SEA Championship – the first FIA step to F1 in Asia - which educates local and regional
race drivers as well as a support crew of technicians, engineers, administrative staff, PR and
television producers, photographers and a host of professionals who have chosen to specialize in
this high-tech global industry.
The FINALE of the Malaysian F1 Grand Prix will be held at the end of September. This Merdeka
let’s celebrate the bounty and pride Formula 1 has brought to Malaysia and the Formula 4 legacy it
leaves behind.
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