Last year’s start at 5 p.m. local time was two hours later than the previous version, a move made to better serve the large television audience for Formula One in Europe.Organizers and fans were left frustrated when a torrential downpour forced the race to be red-flagged after 32 of the 56 laps with Jenson Button awarded the win with half points.
Circuit chief executive Razlan Razali demanded a “more suitable time” for the race and he seems to have at least partly got his way with a start time of 4 p.m. local announced at the official launch ceremony for the April 4 race. Organizers are expecting a bumper crowd of 100,000 for race day because of the participation of two teams with Malaysian links -- the new locally-backed Lotus and the Petronas-sponsored Mercedes teams.
With Mercedes having persuaded seven times world champion Michael Schumacher to come out of retirement and drive for them, organizers expect a 40,000 rise in spectator numbers from last year.
“I expect a turnout of nearly 100,000 on the last day on Sunday. In the last edition, nearly 60,000 spectators turned up on the last day,” race organizer Mokhzani Mahathir told the Bernama news agency. The Sepang circuit has a capacity of 130,000. A total of 120,000 fans turned out over the three days of the Grand Prix last year, organizers said.
