F1 commentator hopes Sepang makes 2021 return

Alexey Popov hopes Formula 1 returns to Sepang next year.

With the new Vietnam GP no longer scheduled for 2021, Formula 1 has marked that date on the calendar as ’to be confirmed’.

"They immediately started talking about Sepang or Istanbul," Popov, the Russian F1 commentator for Match TV, said.

"I am a big fan of Sepang. I was there for the very first race in 1999," he said, referring to the popular former Malaysian GP venue.

"It was the first ’Tilke-o-drome’, long before all the others. Since then I have loved that track.

"For me it was the biggest loss on the calendar. So if they ask me which track of all the absent ones I would like to see - Portimao, Imola, Nurburgring, all the others - I would always choose Sepang," Popov added.

"If we choose from what we have seen this year, then I hope Mugello, Portimao and the Nurburgring will forgive me but I prefer Istanbul," he said.

"Because the asphalt there will eventually be fine. We’ve seen this before when the first race in Austin was the same but now it is praised by everyone.

"The track itself in Turkey is cool," Popov concluded.