Four races in a row? Key details revealed as F1 eyes Bahrain or Saudi ‘reschedule’

Formula 1 is “continuously evaluating” the possibility of reinstating one – if not two – of the Middle Eastern races cancelled last month due to the conflict in the Gulf. The Bahrain and Saudi Arabian GPs, scheduled for April, were taken off the 2026 calendar in mid-March, a fortnight after Donald Trump targeted missiles at Iranian military and government sites, provoking retaliatory strikes throughout the region. However, recent noises from the sport’s American owners, Liberty Media, and the sport’s governing body, the FIA, suggest that solutions to rescheduling the cancelled races are on the table.

In a conference call with investors last week, during which details of a 53% year-on-year revenue rise were announced, Liberty Media CEO Derek Chang stated that executives were “continuously evaluating the calendar this year. ” Chang added: “As Stefano [Domenicali, F1 CEO] mentioned to Bloomberg News last week, it might be possible to reschedule one race toward the end of the season. ” He did ensure that any decision would be made in a “timely fashion.

” But what are the options on the table? What is at stake? And could the end-of-season races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi also be at risk?

‘Humans are always the priority’ The most obvious point to state is that neither Bahrain nor Saudi Arabia will be reinstated unless there is a permanent end to the conflict in the Middle East. On Monday, Trump described the ceasefire with Iran – in force since 7 April – as on “massive life support” after dismissing Iran’s peace proposals. Trump said: “I would call it the weakest right now, after reading that piece of garbage they sent us – I didn’t even finish reading it.