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F1 set to cancel key races in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia; announcement expected as conflict in West Asia deepens
It has been a loosely-held secret that the Grand Prix in Sakhir and Jeddah were likely to be scrapped, and an announcement is expected over the weekend.
The conflict in Western Asian continues to have big impact on all walks of life. With the fighting continuing between the USA-Isreal coalition and the Iranian government, the situation grows more and more untenable with no end in sight to the violence in the region.
The world of sports hasn’t been exempt from the fallout from the fighting either. The big news is that the Formula 1 races set in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia in the month of April are set to be cancelled, leaving a mark in the middle of the F1 calendar early in the campaign.
As per reports in Reuters and on Sky Sports News, the announcement of the cancellation of these two events is expected very soon, with the teams currently in Shanghai for the Chinese Grand Prix.
The cancellation would open up a big gap in the middle of the calendar from an F1 perspective: the race at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir was set to take place on April 12, with the Saudi Arabian race at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit – a street-race in the capital city – was set to follow the week after, on April 19.
As per reports, the deadline for F1’s decision has begun to loom already – teams are set to begin transporting hardware to Bahrain already, as soon as March 20th. The incredible scale of the logistics behind F1 means that any late complications can scuttle a race, and there has been no report of what F1 plans to do to replace these races.
F1 must begin looking for potential solutions
This would mean that the month of April would be completely race-free. The Japanese GP in Suzuka on March 29 would conclude the opening leg of the season, and skip right over the the Miami GP on May 3 to kickstart the busy summer months.
One potential change the F1 could be expected to make is granting a venue two back-to-back races on consecutive weekends, based on theavailability of all parties involved. This would be similar to the Covid-affected 2020 season, where the Red Bull Ring in Austria, Silverstone in the UK, and Sakhir in Bahrain all hosted double-header races to maximise the number of GPs.
However, with the calendar already set and the high-profile drivers and team principals already having mapped out their schedule for 2026, it is difficult to see any massive change to what can be expected from this year’s F1 calendar.
Two more races in the Middle East are set to conclude the F1 season, with the Qatar GP and Abu Dhabi GP in Yas Marina having become the traditional conclusion to the season. Those races will take place in November, and the F1 higher-ups might wait for further updates regarding the tensions in the area before making a decision regarding the season-enders.
