JANUARY 26, 2006

No sign of a Malaysian Formula 1 team

Two years ago the Malaysian Minister of Youth and Sport Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said that the government was pushing for qa national team funded by Malaysian corporations. It was an interesting idea which the minister said would take a couple of years to develop. Not long afterwards Hussein was moved to the Ministry of Education and his old job passed on to Azalina binti Dato' Othman Said but she has been less enthusiastic about Formula 1 being used to create new industries in the country.

The Malaysian may still dream of having their own team and their own drivers in F1 but the recent announcement that Petronas would become a sponsor of BMW reflected another decision to stay on as a sponsor rather than trying to follow the idea of a national team. This role seem to have now gone to A1 Grand Prix while F1 continuues to provide the country with good international exposure.