Putting brakes on F1 races in the Gulf is the right call

Decision to cancel two events will cost around £100m – but the region is no place for sport’s glitz and glamour right now

- KIERAN JACKSON

From the outset of the US-Israeli war with Iran a fortnight ago, the by-comparison trivial ramifications for the start of the 2026 Formula

One season have long felt inevitable. That very weekend, the sport’s tyre supplier Pirelli cancelled a scheduled test in Bahrain, with McLaren and Mercedes personnel left stranded after the sudden closure of air travel in the region. It served as an appropriate case study and now, with no end to the war in sight, the appropriate decision has been made.

Confirmation came late last night - just as teams awoke in Shanghai ahead of today’s Chinese Grand Prix - that both the Bahrain GP and Saudi Arabian GP, scheduled for 12 April and 19 April respectively, have been cancelled. Neither race will be replaced, shortening the season to 22 races. It will cost F1 in the region of £100m in hosting fees.

Yet mercifully, on this occasion, money hasn’t talked. While it is understood Saudi promoters of the Jeddah race fought hard to keep their spot in the calendar, a simple culling puts to bed any lingering safety concerns for the sport’s 2,000-plus travelling circus, as well as nervy organisers hosting thousands of spectators. F1 needed to make a call, given the need to transfer freight that is not needed at the next race in Japan to the Middle East. But that wasn’t the primary motivator.

Even if, in the best-case scenario, the war ended tomorrow, it would be completely unsavoury for F1 to race in the Middle East currently. The region is no place for the sport’s glitz and glamour right now. Nor would it be in a month.