More than 30 relatives of passengers on missing flight MH370 have had to move hotels to make way for Formula One teams and fans arriving for the Malaysian Grand Prix.

Thirty-two family members, including Chinese nationals, have been moved from two hotels near Kuala Lumpur's international airport, which is also close to the Sepang racetrack.

"The rooms have been pre-booked before this event happened," one hotel official said on condition of anonymity.

The relatives have been staging a fraught vigil after the Malaysian Airlines flight with 239 people on board mysteriously vanished shortly after take-off on March 8, prompting a frantic international search effort.