Bernie Ecclestone says Formula 1 won't miss the Malaysian Grand Prix because the sport already has a race in the area with Singapore less than 200 miles away.
Malaysia will host its last F1 race this year after coming to an agreement to cancel its contract early, meaning Sepang will drop off the calendar after 19 years.
Meanwhile Singapore, which joined in 2008 in its current form, had also threatened to drop its race, but according to Ecclestone, it's now safe.
"No, not at all," Ecclestone replied when asked if Malaysia would be missed. "We’ve got Singapore," he told Reuters.
"If we’d have lost Singapore it’s not good. But we haven’t lost Singapore so it’s OK," he added. "They were going to stop… it’s OK now."
The 86-year-old, who is longer in charge of the sport but remains involved under new owners Liberty Media, also hit out at Sepang circuit boss Razlan Razali who accused Ecclestone of making him look "stupid" after Ecclestone admitted he overcharged for the race.
"Nobody made him look stupid, and it’s difficult to make people look stupid. If they are, they are.
"They have done a very good job with the motorcycles [MotoGP], he’s [Razali] fallen in love with the motorbike racing."
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