Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said on Tuesday that the country would set up its own F1 car racing team to lift the popularity of Proton, the country's national car maker.

Najib made this announcement at Putrajaya, the administration center of the country's federal government, after chairing a meeting on government linked companies.

Najib said Malaysia's involvement in the F1 car racing activities should not be merely perceived as a participation in sports.

Instead, it had some elements of marketing, added Najib.

The Formula One Federation (FIA) has accepted Malaysia's bid to enter the 2010 and future FIA Formula One World Championships that will see the country's participation via its own team -- 1Malaysia F1 Team.

Najib said by taking part in the championship, Malaysia could foster the development of its own brand as the cars would be designed, manufactured and tested in Malaysia, by Malaysians.

"1Malaysia F1 Team will fly our colors on the world stage and be the product of our engineers, our universities, our hi-tech centers of excellence," said Najib.

Najib said the national team would be based at Sepang International Circuit, making this the first team to be located outside of Europe and only the second, to Ferrari, to have a race track 200 meters from their front door.

(Xinhua News Agency September 16, 2009)