Domenicali gives up: “Impossible to recover both Bahrain and Jeddah”

F1, tight deadlines for a 24 GP calendar The war in Iran has forced Formula 1 to rethink the 2026 calendar, canceling the stages in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. The Circus never made official the definitive exclusion of Sakhir and Jeddah from the World Cup, but it is clear that the more weeks that pass, the more difficult it will be to even hypothesize their recovery in the second half of the year. F1 president Stefano Domenicali has always been very practical on the topic and has been preparing a plan-B for weeks. Indeed, it would be appropriate to say plan-B and plan-C, because Qatar and Abu Dhabi are also in the balance, which will be held at the end of the championship but would naturally be canceled if the conflict in the Middle East continued in the coming months. One thing is certain, and Domenicali himself admitted it: the World Championship will undergo some changes compared to the initial plans, the 24 GPs of the “original” calendar will not be held because it will be impossible to recover both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. Domenicali’s words “The decision will be made in the next few months, at the right time. To be honest, I believe that recovering both is impossible. Even rescheduling just one will not be easy. There are not many slots available, between Baku and Singapore there is one (the weekend of 4 October, ed.). I can confirm that we have an emergency plan”, this is the comment from the Imola native to L’Équipe. “If the two races at the end of the year cannot be held because the war is not over yet, we have other alternatives. I can therefore confirm that the championship will not end in Las Vegas.” “As in the Covid-19 period, we must try to be as pragmatic as possible. We were aware that it would not be possible to hold the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian GPs at that time. We are a company that promotes entertainment, a sport that brings joy and enthusiasm. We need to go to a place where we can really breathe that atmosphere. We hope, for Formula 1 but above all for the whole world, that the situation improves as quickly as possible,” he added. “The promoters in Qatar and Abu Dhabi are already selling tickets and doing very well. But there will come a time when we will have to make decisions, because it is not like a football match where there are only two teams, 22 players and where substitutions are easy. For us there are aspects such as logistical complexity and costs.”

Automobile Magazine – F1 English News , 2026-05-29 03:00:00