Sepang boss slams Ecclestone & Liberty

Apr.28 - Malaysia grand prix chief Razlan Razali has hit out at former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone ahead of Sepang's last race in October.

For cost reasons, the government has decided to stop funding the Malaysian grand prix, which made its F1 bow in 1999. But Razali expressed disappointment in Ecclestone, who negotiated the lucrative race contracts that Malaysia says it can no longer justify paying for. Ecclestone admitted recently that he often over-charged and under-delivered for F1's highest paying promoters. "For him to come out with that statement, we can't help but feel suckered by him in some ways and quite disappointed," Razali told City AM.

But he also admitted disappointment with Ecclestone's successors at Liberty Media, alleging they rejected a plan to let Sepang go out on a high in October. "We presented them with what we feel would be a good plan," said Razali. "Unfortunately, it is something that they can't help us with. "We are not so convinced in how they can improve formula one if they can't even help us in our final event," he charged.

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Leopold

Leopold Pleijsier founded F1-Fansite.com in 2001 and has followed Formula 1 since the early 1980s. He writes about daily F1 news, race weekends, drivers and the sport’s history.

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