F1 calendar, Domenicali wants to recover Bahrain between Baku and Singapore. But there is a deadline

The US-Iran peace could bring the F1 calendar to 23 GPs. The agreement between the United States and Iran to stop the attacks in the Persian Gulf could give F1 a couple of chances with a view to the 2026 calendar. Of course the situation is still – as is often said in these cases – still fluid and despite the announcement of the ceasefire there has been no shortage of further skirmishes. However, it is clear that, if the situation were to definitively stabilise, there would be the conditions to try to recover at least one of the two races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia postponed to April, bringing the championship back to 23 GPs. This is at least the intention of Liberty Media, with the president and CEO of Formula One Group, Stefano Domenicali, who spoke about it live with Sky UK journalists in the Silverstone paddock. Click here to add Formula Passion as a favorite source on Google Discover: you will find our contents more easily When the Bahrain GP can be recovered Domenicali’s idea would in fact be to recover the Bahrain GP in the only real empty slot available, namely the one between the races in Baku and Singapore: in his sights there is therefore the possibility of restoring one of the two GPs skipped in the spring – and the choice should fall precisely on the Sakhir track, which is a permanent circuit and therefore more immediately ready to organize a World Championship race with a relatively short notice – on the weekend of October 4th, creating a three-peat of GPs that is acceptable in terms of logistics. The paddock would in fact travel to Bahrain from Baku (where, moreover, the races take place on Saturdays to respect an Azerbaijani national holiday) and then race at Marina Bay the following weekend. F1 calendar, Domenicali speaks Everything, however, will have to be finalized by the summer break and therefore announced no later than the weekend of the 2026 Hungarian GP, ​​taking place on July 26th in Budapest: it will therefore be necessary for the scenario in the Persian Gulf to stabilize quickly to proceed with this scenario. “If there is something we can announce – explains Domenicali to Sky UK – also in relation to the possibility of verifying whether there is space for what has not been done so far, we will do it, at the right time and in the right conditions. This is really our hope, because if all the conditions are favourable, we will carry forward our plan. If there was a possibility, why shouldn’t we take it?”. “I think that, in order to seize the possible possibility of taking part in one of the races that we have not yet held – he adds – we will have to do it before the summer break. Our duty is to make sure that we are ready to carry out our calendar as planned. And we are monitoring the situation because it would be an incredibly positive message for the sport, and also from a political point of view, the fact that we are moving in this direction. If we were to race in the Middle East, we could say that everything that has happened is now behind us”. Portimao’s “plan B” is moving away. At the same time, the closure of the conflict between the USA, Israel and Iran should ensure the possibility of closing the season, as expected, between Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The two final GPs of the 2026 World Championship are scheduled for the weekends of 29 November and 6 December, but it is known that Formula 1 was moving towards possible alternatives – Stefano Domenicali had admitted that he had “a plan B ready” – perhaps involving the Portimao circuit, which will return to the F1 calendar in the next few seasons and which would allow the organization of a race in late autumn on a climatic level: a hypothesis which, however, would obviously disappear if the World Championship could be concluded safely while remaining on “plan A”, that of proceeding with the races in Lusail and Abu Dhabi.

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2026-07-05 11:15:00