F1 likely to drop Bahrain and Saudi races without replacements amid Gulf conflict

LONDON – The Bahrain and Saudi Arabian grands prix are unlikely to be replaced on what would become a 22-race Formula One calendar if, as now looks probable, they are cancelled due to the Middle East conflict.

Multiple senior sources in the F1 paddock told Reuters on March 6 that reducing the world championship from a scheduled 24 rounds was the most probable outcome.

Bahrain’s floodlit race at the Sakhir circuit is scheduled for April 12 with the Saudi race in Jeddah due the following weekend.

MotoGP is also due to race at Qatar’s Lusail circuit near Doha on April 12 and has said that date looks very difficult for them to fulfil, with the round unlikely to move to another venue.

The World Endurance Championship round in Doha from March 26 to 28 has been postponed.

Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain have been targeted by Iranian missiles and drones, after the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran. Major airports in the region, significant hubs for international travellers, remain closed.

If the Bahrain Grand Prix were cancelled, it would not be the first time. It was also dropped in 2011 due to unrest in the kingdom, and was not rescheduled after teams objected to a late October date.

Rescheduling the F1 races for the same venues later in 2026 would also be extremely difficult, since temperatures are much higher in the region through the European summer and autumn.

There is also an absence of obvious slots, with F1 keen to maintain its August break and relieve the burden on teams.

Although a number of circuits have been mooted in the media as possible replacements – Italy’s Imola, France’s Le Castellet and Portugal’s Portimao as well as Turkey’s Istanbul Park – the practical reality of shifting the circus at short notice makes it a major logistical challenge.

There would also be little incentive for promoters and a limited window to sell tickets to cover the hosting fees, while organising marshals, security and transport takes time.

Hosting another race at Japan’s Suzuka after round three, another option suggested, would raise another set of problems. Track owners Honda would also have little incentive to cast a double spotlight on their own embarrassing engine woes with Aston Martin.

A reduced 22-race calendar – still a long season compared to many in the past – would meet commercial obligations, even if reducing F1’s overall revenues.

F1’s chief executive Stefano Domenicali and Mohammed Ben Sulayem, president of the governing International Automobile Federation, have both said safety comes first.

“We don’t want to do any statement today because things are evolving and we still have time to make the right decision. This decision will be taken together,” Domenicali told Sky Sports in Melbourne.

The Italian is expected to meet F1 bosses on March 7.

“It’s the first get-together of all the teams. There’s been very little communication about it (the situation) yet because of the effort that it took just to get here to Australia,” said McLaren boss Zak Brown.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said: “I would very much hope we race. Is it realistic that we race there at the moment? I’m not quite sure.”

Meanwhile, Aston Martin’s hopes of racing in the season-opening Australian GP rest on their final batteries holding up until the race on March 8, leaving them feeling “powerless” and in a “scary place”, team principal Adrian Newey said on March 6.

The team have been plagued by problems with their new Honda power unit, with drivers Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll having their laps restricted due to the risk of suffering permanent nerve damage from vibrations in the car.

Alonso was unable to leave the garage in the first free practice on March 6, while Stroll managed only three laps.

The duo combined for just 31 laps in the second free practice session.

Newey said the team brought four batteries to Melbourne but two had already failed, leaving them with the ones being used in the drivers’ cars.

“So we lose one of those, then it’s obviously a big problem,” he said. “Given our kind of rate of battery damage, it’s quite a scary place to be in.”

The March 6 practice sessions, the first proper tests for the new smaller and lighter cars following regulation changes, saw McLaren’s Oscar Piastri topping the second free practice.

He lapped in 1min 19.729sec, 0.214 seconds ahead of Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli, whose teammate George Russell came in third. Ferrari duo Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were fourth and fifth respectively.

F1’s new engine era, with hybrid power units now powered by 50 per cent traditional combustion and 50 per cent electrical energy, launched amid a spate of reliability issues, with the virtual safety car triggered twice in the opening practice session.

The mishaps continued in the second session, with Max Verstappen stalling in the pit lane straight after exiting the Red Bull garage and later taking a heavy skid through gravel after locking up at turn 10.

Piastri’s teammate and defending champion Lando Norris improved to seventh in the second session, after finishing 19th in the first, in which he encountered a gearbox problem. REUTERS