Formula One cancels Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix amid Middle East conflict

The Liberty Media-owned championship said no replacement races would be added next month, while the Formula 2, Formula 3 and F1 Academy rounds scheduled alongside the two events will also not go ahead at their planned times.

The decision was made after consultations involving Formula One, the FIA, local promoters and FIA member clubs in the region, with safety cited as the main consideration.

The Bahrain round had been scheduled for the April 10-12 weekend as the fourth race of the 2026 season, with the Saudi Arabian round due to follow on April 17-19 as round five.

Both events were set to be run at night under floodlights, with Bahrain at Sakhir and Saudi Arabia in Jeddah.

Formula One has already raced in Australia and is in China this weekend, with Japan next on March 29.

If the two April races are not moved to a later date, the calendar will fall from 24 rounds to 22.

Formula One President and CEO Stefano Domenicali said it had been a difficult decision, but the right one in light of the current situation in the Middle East.

FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem said the governing body would always place the safety and wellbeing of its community and colleagues first, and added that Bahrain and Saudi Arabia remained important to the championship and that he hoped Formula One would return as soon as circumstances allowed.

Sources familiar with the matter said the races were also unlikely to be rescheduled for later in the year because of logistical and weather constraints, although the official statements did not explicitly rule that out.

Reuters reported that the deadline for sending freight to Bahrain was March 20.

With April now left blank, Formula One would next race in Miami on May 3 after Japan, creating a five-week gap in the schedule.

For some teams, including Aston Martin, that break could provide valuable time to improve and repair their cars.

The FIA said several alternative venues had been considered before a decision was taken to leave April empty.

The two Middle East races are major contributors to Formula One’s revenues and team finances, with Bahrain’s annual hosting fee estimated at about $45 million and Saudi Arabia’s believed to be even higher.

This is the second time Bahrain has lost its grand prix, after the 2011 race was called off because of unrest in the Gulf kingdom.

The Jeddah race had also come under scrutiny in 2022 after missile and drone attacks on an oil facility near the circuit.

Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat owns McLaren, while Saudi oil giant Aramco is the title sponsor of Aston Martin.

Saudi state news agency SPA quoted Sports Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal as saying the kingdom respected the decision not to hold the race on its original date and remained fully prepared to host an event it had already staged successfully on five previous occasions.