Summary

Bahrain and Saudi Arabia F1 race cancellations confirmed due to Iran war Bahrain and Saudi Arabia’s Formula One Grands Prix races will not be held in April on safety grounds due to the war. Formula One and its governing body, FIA, said the Grands Prix races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia will not happen in April due to safety concerns related to the Iran war. Both countries have been hit during Iran’s retaliatory attacks after the United States and Israel launched a wave of strikes on Iran. Recommended Storieslist of 4 items - list 1 of 4Man Utd and Aston Villa set for tense battle in UCL qualification race - list 2 of 4Man City held at West Ham to lose ground on Premier League leaders Arsenal - list 3 of 4Valverde nets again while Guler hits wondergoal, as Real Madrid beat Elche - list 4 of 4Dowman makes history to seal vital Arsenal win over Everton The announcement was made early on Sunday morning in Shanghai ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix. “Due to the ongoing situation in the Middle East region, the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix will not take place in April,” F1 said. “While several alternatives were considered, it was ultimately decided that no substitutions will be made in April.” F1 was due to race in Bahrain on April 12 and in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah on April 19. “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,” said Stefano Domenicali, president and CEO of F1. “The FIA will always place the safety and well being of our community and colleagues first. After careful consideration, we have taken this decision with that responsibility firmly in mind,” FIA’s president, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, said. The FIA did not explicitly rule out rescheduling the races and, along with F1, did not use the words “cancel” or “postpone” in announcing that the series would not be in Bahrain or Saudi Arabia next month. “Bahrain and Saudi Arabia are incredibly important to the ecosystem of our racing season, and I look forward to returning to both as soon as circumstances allow,” Ben Sulayem said. The promoters of the races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia said they supported the decision. F1’s packed schedule does not have any obvious open dates for rescheduled races this year. Calling off the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian races means there will be a five-week gap from the Japanese Grand Prix on March 29 and the next race, the Miami Grand Prix, on May 3. Without any rescheduling, the 22-race schedule would be the shortest since 2023. The two Middle East races were not to happen until next month, but F1 faced making a decision earlier because it typically flies in the first staff and cargo to tracks weeks in advance. F1 was also faced with the difficulty of selling tickets at short notice, which makes it almost impossible to set up a replacement race in other countries. Kimi Antonelli, the Mercedes driver who qualified on pole position for Sunday’s race in Shanghai, said his thoughts were “with the ones that are suffering from this situation” and that safety needed to be the priority. “I’m sure they will do the right thing,” he said of FIA and F1. The schedule is a joint matter for FIA and for F1’s commercial rights holder, and teams had signalled a willingness to follow their lead. “I think we follow the guidance of the FIA and Formula 1, as we always do. They’ve always led us in the right direction,” Audi team principal Jonathan Wheatley said on Friday. “Nobody’s going to compromise on anything that would put teams into an uncomfortable situation.” Bahrain had already hosted two preseason F1 tests this season, before Israel and the US launched attacks on Iran. A smaller-scale test of wet-weather tyres was called off in the immediate aftermath of the strikes. A travel shutdown affecting major airports in the Middle East also caused disruption for Europe-based F1 and team staff heading to Melbourne for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix. The last time a scheduled F1 race was cancelled was in 2023, when the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in northern Italy was called off at short notice due to deadly floods in the area. In 2022, F1 continued with its race weekend in Saudi Arabia, even after Yemen’s Houthi rebels attacked an oil depot during a practice session, with black smoke visible from the Jeddah circuit. The same year, F1 cancelled the Russian Grand Prix’s contract after Russia’s full-scale invasion of neighbouring Ukraine.