Malaysia's prime minister hopes formula one returns to the country.

The Sepang Circuit near Kuala Lumpur was built specifically for F1 ahead of its 1999 debut.

In 2017, the government pulled out of its contract with a year to run, with sports minister Khairy Jamaluddin declaring: "Costs too high, returns limited".

But PM Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has now told the local Star newspaper that he has "hope" Malaysia will host F1 again.

"I remember my visit to Estoril in Portugal, which inspired me to have a similar track in Malaysia," he said.

"Malaysians took up racing themselves and are now very well into motor racing and also the engineering behind the cars. So we have gained a lot of things from the Sepang races and the money spent on the track was well worth it.

"I hope the races will continue into the future, and I also hope formula one will come back in all its glory," the prime minister added.