F1 to Decide Before Summer Break on Recovering Middle Eastern Race
Stefano Domenicali said F1 wants to restore one cancelled Middle East race and needs a decision before the August summer break.
- Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali hopes to restore one cancelled Middle Eastern race to the 2026 calendar, aiming to increase the current 22-race schedule to 23 events.
- The Bahrain Grand Prix and Saudi Arabian Grand Prix were cancelled in April following the US-Israeli war with Iran, resulting in an unplanned five-week break.
- Domenicali told Sky Sports on Saturday that a decision is required before the August summer break, with the only feasible slot occurring in September between the Azerbaijan and Singapore rounds.
- Restoring a race would indicate that season-ending events in Qatar and Abu Dhabi are stable, though contingency plans involve using Portimao if those races face cancellation.
- If successful, the 2026 season would conclude with nine races in 11 weeks, consisting of three triple-headers separated by one-week breaks.
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Formula 1 seems to be planning to secure in the event that the last two season races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi fail. At the same time, there is movement in the cancelled Middle East races.
Radio France Internationale
F1 boss Domenicali hopes to restore cancelled Gulf grand prix
The two rounds scheduled for Bahrain and Jeddah in April were scrapped following the attack by the USA and Israel on Iran which spilled over to all the Arab Gulf states. "If there is something that we can announce also related to the possibility of seeing if there is any space for what has not been done so far, we're going to do it, in the right moment and the right conditions," the Italian told UK broadcaster Sky Sport on Saturday evening. "Tha…
Stefano Domenicali, President of Formula 1 expressed this Sunday the "hope" to reintroduce to this season's calendar one of the two Gulf Grand Prix cancelled.
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