Malaysia motorsports boss says F1 could return to the Sepang International Circuit in as little as three years though the hosting fee remains an issue.

The Malaysia Grand Prix, which was first held in 1999, dropped from the schedule following the 2017 event, organisers, who still had a year to run on their existing contract, citing the hosting fees and declining ticket sales.

Though F1 ceased, the track continues to host various other motorsport disciplines including MotoGP which also runs one of its pre-season tests at the venue.

Tan Sri Mokhzani Mahathir, president of the Motorsports Association of Malaysia (MAM), says that the sport's newfound popularity makes F1 extremely attractive to his country once again, however corporate entities would be needed to share the burden of the costs.

"In terms of being the host, it's not a problem," he is quoted as saying by the New Straits Times. "It is a question of who is going to pay and whether we can afford it or not.

"I have no idea what is it (the cost) right now," he added, "but definitely it is higher than when we stopped in 2017.

"F1 is more popular than it used to be," he admitted, "it has a new audience after the Netflix series while a lot of countries are bidding for the race as a statement for their country.

"We get comments from drivers themselves that Sepang is one of the challenging tracks that they want to see back in the calendar," he continued. "We always have a good relationship with the organisers, we know them since 1996 when we start the discussion to host the race, so it is matter of time."