I didn't expect to write this one this year: Formula 1 is back at Sepang. Here's what it means for your travel if you're flying on 2–4 October, the serious story behind a 'Bahrain' race running in Selangor, and why I would dearly love to see F1 come home to Malaysia for good.
Something I did not expect to write this year: Formula 1 is back at Sepang. From the 2nd to the 4th of October, the fastest cars on earth are tearing around the Sepang International Circuit again — the first time since 2017 that F1 has raced on Malaysian soil. There is a twist in the name, and a serious reason behind it, which I will come to. But first, because it is my job, a practical word for anyone flying this weekend.
Flying on 2–4 October? Give yourself more time
Sepang sits right next to Kuala Lumpur International Airport, so a race weekend of this size means heavier traffic on the roads into KLIA. Malaysia Airlines has issued a notice asking passengers travelling on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th of October to allow extra time to reach the airport, with congestion expected around Sepang and the roads leading to KLIA.
Their advice is sound, and it is what we would tell you ourselves: arrive at KLIA at least three hours before an international flight, and two hours before a domestic one — and remember that check-in counters close 60 minutes before departure for both. Keep an eye on the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) for the latest on road closures, plan an alternative route, and seriously consider the KLIA Ekspres train. It runs clear of the traffic and reaches the terminals in about half an hour from KL Sentral. The airport itself is open and running; the only real question this weekend is how you get to it.
Why the race says 'Bahrain' but runs at Sepang
Here is the twist. The event is officially the Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia 2026 — a Bahrain Grand Prix, raced in Selangor. The reason is a sombre one. With conflict and instability across parts of the Middle East, the Gulf has had a difficult year, and the Bahrain round could not be held at home. Rather than lose the race altogether, Formula 1, the FIA and the governments of Bahrain and Malaysia reached an agreement to move it to Sepang — keeping the Bahrain name, with Bahrain retaining the ticket pricing and race proceeds.
Our thoughts are with everyone caught up in the troubles of the region; no one would wish a race away from its home. But if the Grand Prix had to find a temporary paddock, we are quietly proud it found one here. Sepang was built for exactly this. It last hosted Formula 1 in 2017, and nine years on, the grandstands are full again and the old circuit is roaring.
What a Grand Prix does for a country
A race like this is far more than a weekend of noise. For the few days around it, hotels across Kuala Lumpur and Selangor fill up, flights come in heavy, restaurants and bars run late, and drivers barely stop. We see it from our own desk — the enquiries that land the moment a big event is confirmed, for flights, rooms and ground transport, from fans ready to build a whole holiday around three days at the track.
And the bigger prize is the one you cannot put on an invoice: a global television audience in the hundreds of millions, watching Malaysia's name, its skyline and its circuit for an entire weekend. That is destination marketing no advertising budget could buy. A Grand Prix puts money into hotels, food, retail and transport straight away — and it plants a seed in the mind of every viewer who thinks, this year, that Malaysia looks like somewhere worth visiting.
I'd love to see F1 come home for good
I will admit a personal wish here. I would dearly love to see Formula 1 return to Malaysia not as a one-off favour, but as a home race once more. We hosted the Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang from 1999 to 2017, and for those years a weekend of the season belonged to us. It filled our hotels, lifted our tourism, and gave Malaysians a world-class event in their own backyard.
This weekend is a borrowed race, and a welcome one. But it is also a reminder of what we do well, and what we have been missing. If this Bahrain-in-Malaysia Grand Prix goes smoothly — and every sign says it will — I hope the people who decide these things are watching, and that it reopens the door to a Malaysian Grand Prix of our own. We are ready. Sepang is ready. And this week, the roar sounds like home.
Going to the race — or just getting past it?
Whichever side of this weekend you are on, we can help. If you are travelling to the Grand Prix — from elsewhere in Malaysia or from abroad — talk to us about flights, a room near the action, and transfers timed to dodge the worst of the traffic. And if you are simply flying in or out of KLIA on these dates, let us plan your airport run with the extra time already built in.
Either way, you will have someone in Penang watching the schedule for you. Enjoy the race, travel safe — and here is hoping this is the start of something that comes back to stay.
