Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia may scrap the Formula One Grand Prix race after its contract ends in 2018 given the event’s failure to spur economic benefits for the country, sports officials said on Tuesday.

High costs combined with falling ticket sales and TV viewership have dented returns, according to officials, who are due to meet later this week to discuss the future of the race. “The locals are not buying the tickets to watch F1,” Razlan Razali, the chief executive of Sepang International Circuit (SIC) where the races are held said. “If there is no economic value, why should we continue? We better take a temporary break.”

Razlan said the huge circuit can accommodate 120,000 fans but this year's spectator figures for the weekend race were only around 45,000, compounded by poor race-day TV ratings.

Hosting F1 was “very expensive... it runs into millions of dollars,” he added.

In comments on Twitter earlier, sports minister Khairy Jamaluddin said competition from other venues outside of Malaysia was also taking its toll and the number of foreign tourists attending the race was dwindling. “When we first hosted the F1 it was a big deal. First in Asia outside Japan. Now so many venues. No first mover advantage. Not a novelty.”