The Middle East War Is Reshaping the 2026 F1 Calendar in Real Time

Formula 1 has officially cancelled both the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix for the 2026 season.



The decision was announced on Sunday morning ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai.



Both races had been due in April — Bahrain on the 10th, Jeddah the following weekend.



Neither event will be replaced on the calendar. The 2026 season is now a 22-race schedule.



The two countries sit within the Gulf region, which has been targeted in Iranian retaliatory strikes against the US-Israeli military campaign.



A Pirelli tyre test at Bahrain’s Sakhir circuit in late February had already been cancelled after a missile struck a US Navy command centre just 15 miles away.



F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali acknowledged the difficulty of the situation head-on. “While this was a difficult decision to take, it is unfortunately the right one at this stage considering the current situation in the Middle East,” he said.



FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem was equally direct on the safety rationale. “The FIA will always place the safety and well-being of our community and colleagues first,” he said.



“Bahrain and Saudi Arabia are incredibly important to the ecosystem of our racing season,” Ben Sulayem continued, “and I look forward to returning to both as soon as circumstances allow.”



Several replacement venues were explored, including Imola, Portimao, and Istanbul. A Japan double-header was also considered. All were rejected.



The five-week gap this creates — between Japan on March 29 and Miami on May 3 — is the longest mid-season break in recent F1 history.



Some team freight from winter testing is still sitting in Bahrain and must now be rerouted to the Americas. The paddock implications are significant.



The financial hit is notable too. Combined host fees for the two races are estimated around $100 million, with teams sharing roughly half of F1’s total revenue pool.



For a sport that had loudly marketed its Middle East expansion as a cornerstone of its commercial future, losing both races in the same season is a stark reminder of geopolitical dependency.
The post The Middle East War Is Reshaping the 2026 F1 Calendar in Real Time appeared first on Formula1News.co.uk .