{"id":517063,"date":"2026-03-04T01:04:22","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T01:04:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/517063\/"},"modified":"2026-03-04T01:04:22","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T01:04:22","slug":"bahrain-and-saudi-arabia-races-could-be-cancelled-replaced-by-imola-portimao-and-istanbul-latest-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/517063\/","title":{"rendered":"Bahrain and Saudi Arabia races could be cancelled, replaced by Imola, Portimao and Istanbul, latest news"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fears over major disruption to the 2026 F1 schedule have escalated overnight with reports that two races could be lost \u2014 or replaced \u2014 due to conflict in the Middle East.<\/p>\n

F1 is due to race twice in the region next month when it visits Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, which have both been struck by Iranian missiles in recent days.<\/p>\n

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The conflict has already seen about 1,000 staff involved in F1 stranded and needing to frantically arrange alternative travel plans to make the season-opener in Melbourne this week. <\/p>\n

How the F1 circus then returns to the region to stage two races in a matter of weeks is of increasing concern to organisers, who have said \u201csafety and wellbeing\u201d would guide a final decision. <\/p>\n

The Telegraph<\/a> reports that a call about whether the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix, on the 12th and 19th of April respectively, will go ahead will be made \u201cin the next few weeks\u201d.<\/p>\n

Given the US-Israel conflict with Iran destabilising the region, a decision could be made to scrap the races should a ceasefire not be reached soon. <\/p>\n

The latest a decision is expected to be made is by the Japan Grand Prix on March 29. <\/p>\n

While F1 says that, at this stage, it does not expect any changes to its 24-race schedule, The Telegraph<\/a> understands that losing two races is a possibility. <\/p>\n

Another contingency, however, is the potential for European venues to fill the spots of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia with their hosting fees waived. <\/p>\n

Another return to Imola could be on the cards.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n

Istanbul, Portimao, and Imola are three European circuits that have been suggested as replacement venues. <\/p>\n

Imola has only just departed from the F1 calendar having made a return in the Covid era, while Portimao is also up to standard and will make an official return in 2027 and 2028. <\/p>\n

A looming call comes off the back of the World Endurance Championship postponing its season opener in Qatar to later in the year.<\/p>\n

The race was scheduled to take place 26-28 March. <\/p>\n

Piastri MOBBED in Melbourne | 00:25<\/p>\n

\u2018NOT WHERE WE WERE\u2019 <\/p>\n

McLaren is not expected to emerge immediately as a title contender in 2026, as it did in 2025, with Oscar Piastri muting expectations for a new season.<\/p>\n

Speaking to Sky Sports F1<\/a> this week, Piastri said he believed F1\u2019s pecking order was in for a shake-up that could see McLaren dislodged as the top dogs.<\/p>\n

Pre-season testing appeared to reveal Mercedes as the new team to beat, with McLaren boss Andrea Stella saying the Silver Arrows, and Ferrari, are a \u201cstep ahead\u201d heading to Albert Park.<\/p>\n

Piastri appeared to confirm that view, saying McLaren doesn\u2019t arrive in Australia this week in the same way it did last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019re in the mix at the moment,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll find out for sure soon enough, but I don\u2019t think we\u2019re quite in the position we were 12 months ago where we felt like we were the strongest.<\/p>\n

Middle East conflict to impact AUS GP | 05:00<\/p>\n

\u201cI think this season is not going to be won by who\u2019s quickest, or who\u2019s the best, at the first race.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s going to be a lot of development, a lot of learning, especially for us as drivers, and whoever can get on top of that the quickest in what is a very long season is going to end up on top in the long run.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, Piastri said he expected his team to be able to get back to the front, even if it doesn\u2019t start there. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve shown over the last two or three years just how quickly we can get things back on track and how quickly we can turn things around,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I think, no matter what rules we get thrown at us, I think we\u2019ll get there.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fears over major disruption to the 2026 F1 schedule have escalated overnight with reports that two races could…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":517064,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[258326,13273,1724,64,63,689,258329,131169,258331,258327,2057,817,813,816,3738,653,2105,14211,34887,5575,6897,2328,258330,42267,825,647,945,12241,677,16260,24123,14640,258328,194449,33195,12540,3595,85,23055,209117,660,12000],"class_list":{"0":"post-517063","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-formula-1","8":"tag-alternative-travel-plans","9":"tag-andrea-stella","10":"tag-asia","11":"tag-au","12":"tag-australia","13":"tag-australia-and-new-zealand","14":"tag-australian-ace","15":"tag-australian-grand","16":"tag-dino-ferrari","17":"tag-east-conflict-updates","18":"tag-europe","19":"tag-f1","20":"tag-formula-1","21":"tag-formula1","22":"tag-fox-sports","23":"tag-fox-sports-news","24":"tag-getty-images-inc","25":"tag-grands-prix","26":"tag-imola","27":"tag-iran","28":"tag-israel","29":"tag-italy","30":"tag-kayo-fox-sports","31":"tag-looming-call","32":"tag-max-verstappen","33":"tag-melbourne","34":"tag-mercedes","35":"tag-middle-east","36":"tag-oceania","37":"tag-qatar","38":"tag-ryan-pierse","39":"tag-saudi-arabia","40":"tag-schedule-fears","41":"tag-season-launch","42":"tag-season-opener","43":"tag-southern-asia","44":"tag-southern-europe","45":"tag-sports","46":"tag-title-contender","47":"tag-travis-auld","48":"tag-victoria","49":"tag-western-asia"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517063","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=517063"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517063\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/517064"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=517063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=517063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=517063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}