Scott Gulbransen
The conflict reshaping the Middle East is now reshaping the Formula 1 calendar, and the sport is almost out of time to pretend otherwise.
Bahrain and Saudi Arabia were supposed to host back-to-back grands prix in April — Sakhir on the 10th, Jeddah a week later on the 17th. Neither race is happening. Sky Sports reported Friday that an official cancellation is expected in Shanghai before the weekend, with no replacement events planned. The 2026 season drops from 24 races to 22, and April goes completely dark for the first time since 2020.
The context matters. US and Israeli military strikes on Iran triggered a wave of retaliatory missile attacks across the Gulf. Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi all took hits. Dubai International Airport was targeted. The Strait of Hormuz — the shipping lane that F1 freight would have to move through — is disrupted. A Pirelli tire test at Sakhir was scrapped in late February when Iran launched a missile at a US Navy command center just 15 miles from the circuit. That was the writing on the wall.
The freight situation made a clean split between the two races impossible anyway. Everything moves to Bahrain first, then overlands to Jeddah. You can’t save one without the other. If Sakhir goes, Jeddah goes.
Portimao and Imola were briefly considered as replacement options, but neither pencils out given the timeline and conflicts elsewhere on the calendar. The financial hit for F1 is real, and reports put the cost of cancellation at north of $100 million in hosting fees alone. Formula 1 runs on those fees. This is not a small thing.
What’s left is a five-week gap between Japan on March 27th and Miami on May 3rd. For fans who got used to F1 running almost every weekend, that’s going to feel strange. But nobody in the paddock is arguing with the call. Toto Wolff said it plainly in Melbourne: Formula 1 becomes the second priority when safety is the question. Hard to disagree with that.
