A few hours before the start of the 2026 Chinese GP, Formula 1 officially announced that the April races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia will not take place on their scheduled dates. The reason is, of course, the ongoing war in that region of the world. The decision will have a major impact on this year’s F1 season.
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The Bahrain GP was scheduled to take place on April 12, and the Saudi Arabian GP on April 19. They will not be held on those dates, and Formula 1 has not managed to organize replacements. This means that in April, all of Formula 1 will have time off. Between the Japanese GP on March 29 and the Miami GP on May 3, there will be a five-week break. The constantly updated hourly schedule for the 2026 F1 season is available here. There was too little time to organize replacements, and logistical as well as financial problems also arose. Moving all F1 equipment from Japan to Europe and then sending it to Miami would be expensive. Races organized in emergency mode would provide Formula 1 with little money. There is no guarantee that the benefits would outweigh the costs incurred for their organization. Therefore, the whole matter was very complicated.
At this moment, F1 and the FIA in their official statement (Source) have only informed about the lack of organization of the Bahrain GP and Saudi Arabian GP in their April slots. Formally, these races have not been canceled. The statement also includes comments from the promoters of these events, made in agreement with them. They will try to organize them at a later date, but no decisions have been made and it will be very difficult. Money and who makes the decision to cancel are key in this matter. If F1 decided to cancel the races now, they would not receive the licensing fee money, and the tracks could even fight for compensation. If the organizers canceled their races, they would have to pay compensation / a licensing fee. There remains, of course, the issue of “force majeure”; on this basis, for example, the 2023 Emilia-Romagna GP was canceled because there was a flood near the city of Imola. Now there will be a game for time, and we will reach a point where it turns out that these events cannot be organized or new dates will be found for them. Everyone is waiting to see how long the war will last.
I don’t want to go deeper into political and war topics here, but the US and Israeli attack on Iran did not go as those countries intended. Iran did not surrender, regularly attacking its aggressors and related countries in the region. It is hard to say how long this conflict will last. It could end within a few days, or it could last for months with lower intensity. Bahrain is located very close to Iran; there have been many attacks on its territory, and there are American military bases there. It is also a very small country (the size of Gdańsk), so in my opinion, even if the war ended, the risk of drone/missile attacks would remain for longer. The city of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, where the F1 track is located, lies very far from the hostilities, on the other side of the peninsula; sea transport through the Red Sea is also available there. Therefore, it seems to me that if it were possible to organize one of these races this year, it would be the Saudi Arabian GP. Preparatory work on this track has been carried out in recent days; behind the scenes, they were reportedly trying to ensure their event was not moved. If the war is long, the races in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates at the end of the season will be at risk. These two countries are located, like Bahrain, very close to Iran.
Is there a chance to organize the postponed races later in the season?
This is the main mystery at the moment. Looking at the rest of the calendar, there is only one place where one of the postponed races could be squeezed in: between the events in Azerbaijan and Singapore. It would also fit logistically, and the matter is made easier by the fact that the Azerbaijan GP will be on Saturday, so there would be an extra day for transport. A triple-header race weekend would then be created at the turn of September and October. It is very hot in the Middle East then, but F1 sessions could be held later than usual, e.g., at 20:00 or 21:00 local time. I don’t see any other date. There are no free slots at the end of the season; the calendar is overloaded. Additionally, Abu Dhabi pays to host the season finale, and the Las Vegas GP has a date that cannot be changed. Despite the large sums of money from Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, in my opinion, it will be difficult to organize both of these races in the second half of the year. It would require very large changes to the schedule and, for example, moving the season finale by two weeks to the second half of December.
Junior series will have bigger problems
Formula 2 and Formula 3 races were supposed to take place alongside the Bahrain GP, and Formula 2 and the F1 Academy alongside the Saudi Arabian GP. Additionally, junior series tests were supposed to take place in Bahrain earlier. The organizers of these series (also Liberty Media) have a bigger problem because here it is necessary to find replacements and organize the missing rounds during other Grands Prix. Junior series calendars are short, and team budgets are based on money paid by drivers’ sponsors, which is linked to the length of the calendars. Fewer races mean less money. The drop in revenue will be more severe than the savings associated with not traveling to the events. This is equally important for sporting reasons, because for junior series, each round has a much greater impact on the entire season than in F1, where seasons are much longer. Therefore, I expect efforts here to find new dates for these series during other F1 events.
According to information reported by the BBC a few days ago, Formula 1 must organize 22 races in a given year. Such a number is reportedly included in contracts with sponsors and television broadcasters. After the “cancellation” of the two events in question, the calendar counts exactly 22 rounds. This means that all sponsors and TV stations will pay the money set by the contracts. Liberty Media will therefore only really lose the licensing fees, which will total over $100 million, as well as additional millions related to additional events organized on-site or tickets sold to VIPs. They will also lose out on fees from teams for logistics. On the other hand, organizing each race involves various types of costs for F1, so the real financial loss should be below $100 million. This will be painful, but not critical for the functioning of all of F1, which in 2025 made a net profit of as much as $632 million (**details**).
Lack of April races, F1 regulations, and car development
In the F1 technical regulations, there are provisions that after 6, 12, and 18 races of the season, the FIA will compare the performance of internal combustion engines. If someone lags behind by more than 2% power, they will get additional development opportunities. After the calendar changes, the sixth race of the season will be the Monaco GP at the beginning of June, not the Miami GP at the beginning of May. So everything has been delayed by a month. I have already seen that there are disputes in F1 whether 6, 12, and 18 races should be counted based on the planned or actual calendar. Everyone wants to interpret it to their advantage. Realistically, it must be stated that weaker engine manufacturers will get additional development opportunities a month later.
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I also remind you that from June 1, a new method of testing the compression ratio in engines will be introduced – Details. It is hard to say what impact this will have on engine performance, and if anyone is to lose, it is Mercedes. The cancellation of two races means they have lost two opportunities to use their engine under the old rules.
Expect plenty of car upgrades introduced during the Miami GP. Many teams planned improvements that were to be introduced in Bahrain. Now all of this will be delayed until Miami, where changes were also planned. Ferrari has already announced a large package of changes, a accumulation of two planned sets. For F1 teams, the situation is complicated because there will be sprints in Miami and Canada, so it will be difficult to properly test new components. On the other hand, they cannot be kept in factories for another month. Therefore, everyone will bring what they have to Miami.
In the coming weeks, talks are to be held between teams, F1, and the FIA regarding possible changes in regulations mainly related to the use of electricity. According to current reports, if anything is agreed upon, it will be introduced in Miami. Realistically, the only thing that can change is the power proportions from the internal combustion engine and the electric motor to limit the drop in pace at the end of straights. Other major changes would require structural changes, so these are ideas with the 2027 season in mind.
Combining a possible regulatory change with car upgrades, the Miami GP could be a new opening for the 2026 season.
Summary
Given the current global situation, the cancellation of the Bahrain GP and Saudi Arabian GP was inevitable. A free April will knock teams and fans out of the racing rhythm; the entire start of the season will be extremely loose. I expect that at the Miami GP, we may have a new season opening and a different balance of power. Will it be possible to organize the postponed races at a later date? At this moment, I am not counting on it, but if the war ends quickly, Liberty Media will not want to leave money on the table and will think about some reshuffles in the calendar.
P.S. Equipment from F1 team garages after testing, as well as much other equipment, remained at the Bahrain track. Pirelli also sent its tires there. Now, actions will likely be taken to organize transport to another place in the world. Teams and F1 have several sets of equipment that circulate around the world sent by sea for financial reasons (it is much cheaper than by plane).
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