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 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.

Malay Mail reported on Saturday afternoon that the shuttle