It remains: “We hope to recover one or both of the canceled races”

The hope of recovering the Grands Prix in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia remains alive. This was confirmed by Alan Permane, Racing Bulls Team Principal, who envisages a very busy calendar at the end of the season should the situation in the Middle East stabilize. Competing at least one of the canceled events would be important for the economic rewards, also to cope with the increase in fuel prices and consequently logistics costs. Possible recovery at the end of the year. The war in Iran has forced Formula 1 to cancel the races scheduled in Bahrain and Jeddah, or rather to suspend them. In fact, in the official press release, the organizers had avoided using the term ‘cancellation’, limiting themselves to saying that the April events would not take place, almost as if to leave the door open to a possible recovery. In this regard, confirmation now comes from Alan Permane, Team Principal of Racing Bulls, who commented on the situation as follows: “We are keeping an eye on the calendar and we sincerely hope that there is a possibility of recovering one or both of these races later in the year. We know nothing. Obviously, until the situation in the Middle East calms down, this will not happen. If it were to materialize, however, we could have a very packed season finale. Recovering at least one of the two Grands Prix appears difficult, as there are already three races consecutive events scheduled at the end of the season between Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi, however, would be important, considering the economic repercussions of not holding the April events. Obviously, not doing these two races will impact everyone. Not contesting them brings a benefit in terms of costs, because we don’t have to send personnel. There are no costs for flights, hotels and shipping of materials. The overall balance, however, is negative. There’s no doubt about this.” Clive Rose/Getty Images Rising costs Added to all this is the increase in logistics costs following the increase in fuel, with teams hoping to collect prizes from canceled races also to offset the increases. Permane continues: “I don’t think we’ve seen any numbers yet, but later in the season transport costs will inevitably be higher due to fuel prices, unless the situation [in Medio Oriente] is not resolved quickly and prices will drop. However, I think everyone can see that filling up your car is more expensive and the same will soon happen with planes. Inevitably, this will have an impact on us.” “Those expenses are within the cost cap,” continues the Racing Bulls Team Principal. “I don’t think there has been any discussion about how to mitigate the effects, but it will depend on how severe they become. I would therefore say that not competing in two races allows you to save on the budget cap, while the rising fuel prices will have a cost. At the moment, I don’t think there is a big impact, but if petrol were to increase further, then we would be affected.” Formula 1 is therefore doubly linked to the evolution of the war in the Middle East, a continuation of which could increase the number of canceled races and increase costs even further.