Fox Sports, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every practice, qualifying session and race in the 2026 FIA Formula One World Championship\u2122 LIVE in 4K.<\/a><\/p>\nThe outbreak of war caused the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian grands prix, originally scheduled in April. Bahrain organisers instead held a race in Malaysia earlier this month.<\/p>\n
The situation has put the season-closing Qatar (29 November) and Abu Dhabi (6 December) events at risk, with the sport initially setting \u2014 and then postponing \u2014 deadlines for a decision in September and October.<\/p>\n
But the feeling in the paddock over the last month has changed from anticipation of an inevitable cancellation to expectation that the races will go ahead, with organisers for both events preparing as usual, including by selling tickets and signing musical acts.<\/p>\n
Though the FIA ultimately rubberstamps Formula 1 decisions about the calendar, Ben Sulayem said he was confident both races could take place safely \u2014 albeit while allowing for some wriggle room.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re fine,\u201d he said, per Autosport. \u201cOne thing I would say: I have my children there \u2014 you think I would leave them there, and I\u2019m here now with you, [if it was dangerous]?<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to be sensible in this and say, \u2018Are we going to have an issue?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat you read in the media is actually different than we have there. We read and we see the TV; we don\u2019t have that, really.<\/p>\n
\u201cOtherwise why will I stay there? Why would I leave my family?<\/p>\n
\u201cBut does this say that there is nothing going to happen? I cannot predict this. I can only tell you today that there is nothing and the two races are going to happen.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am happy [for FIA staff to go there]. Listen, I don\u2019t think the FIA staff would be more important to me than myself and my family, but if I am there, it means I feel secure about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ben Sulayem\u2019s insistence that the event will take place comes despite reports this morning that the Dakar Rally, which has taken place in Saudi Arabia since 2020, will not take place in the Middle East in January due to the escalating parallel war between Saudi forces and Houthi rebels in Yemen.<\/p>\n
Multiple publications have reported that teams have been told the race will instead start in Europe and then cross into Africa by ferry.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have also the common sense here that we will never take our staff or drivers or any officials to a place where we feel it is risky,\u201d Ben Sulayem said, acknowledging the uncertainty around next year\u2019s Dakar running.<\/p>\n
Qatar\u2019s MotoGP round is scheduled to take place on 8 November, with Autosport reporting that teams have been told this week that the race will take place.<\/p>\n
Special homecoming for Feeney | 01:27<\/p>\n
HORNER REVEALS \u2018SECRET\u2019 HAMILTON-RED BULL MEETING<\/p>\n
Christian Horner has claimed Lewis Hamilton made a bid to join Red Bull Racing for the 2013 season before joining Mercedes.<\/p>\n
Hamilton had started his career with McLaren in 2007 and won the title the following season. By the end of 2012 he had amassed 21 victories, but the team was entering a period of competitive decline, leaving him looking for a fresh start.<\/p>\n
Red Bull Racing, meanwhile, had won two title doubles with Sebastian Vettel and was on its way to a third in succession.<\/p>\n
Writing in his autobiography Drive, Horner claimed that Hamilton\u2019s father, Anthony, made contact with Red Bull Racing to investigate a move to Milton Keynes and a \u201csecret meeting\u201d was called at the house of then chief technical officer Adrian Newey.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was looking to leave McLaren, and we were his preferred destination,\u201d Horner wrote.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2018What will it take to join you guys?\u2019 he said, as we sat down. Adrian, who is not known for his poker face, looked ecstatic. I could hardly blame him. A driver pairing of Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton was a tantalising prospect.\u201d<\/p>\n
Horner said, though, that Red Bull motorsport adviser Helmut Marko was not as enthusiastic owing to the potential pressure that would be put on Vettel by having such a high-profile teammate.<\/p>\n
\u201cCertainly, Helmut looked unimpressed when he heard the news,\u201d Horner continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cLewis\u2019s arrival would likely impact Sebastian, his prot\u00e9g\u00e9, and he was clearly feeling apprehensive. Intrigued, I tested the waters anyway.<\/p>\n
\u201cSimon [Fuller, Hamilton\u2019s manager] was known to be a softly spoken person, but his opening gambit caused my ears to ring. \u2018You and I can do the biggest sports deal since Muhammad Ali,\u2019 he said boldly. I laughed, having grown familiar with the sports-agent vernacular. Simon was going to make a lot of money. And Red Bull would have to spend a fortune.<\/p>\n
\u201cDespite the undeniable marketing upside, I didn\u2019t pursue the idea with any real forcefulness.\u201d<\/p>\n
The deal would have displaced Mark Webber, who instead signed his final contract before retiring at the end of 2014.<\/p>\n
Hamilton instead signed for Mercedes, which ascended to the top of the sport in 2014 and propelled him to another six world championships and records for most wins and most poles by a driver. His 84 victories for Mercedes are the most for any driver with one team.<\/p>\n
Phillip Island’s GREATEST MOTO GP moment | 12:49<\/p>\n
VERSTAPPEN TO GET NEW ENGINEER THIS WEEKEND IN GP TRANSITION<\/p>\n
Max Verstappen will begin transitioning to his new race engineer from this weekend\u2019s United States Grand Prix in anticipation of incumbent Gianpiero Lambiase\u2019s move to McLaren.<\/p>\n
Lambiase has been Verstappen\u2019s engineer since the Dutchman joined Red Bull Racing in 2016 but will defect to McLaren by 2028 at the latest in a move that will see him become chief racing officer of the papaya team.<\/p>\n
Red Bull Racing confirmed in July that Tom Hart, who has been Verstappen\u2019s performance engineer since 2020, will step into the role.<\/p>\n
But in a sign that Lambiase could leave for McLaren ahead of time, Hart will take the reins for Verstappen\u2019s side of the garage at three of the final six rounds, including this weekend\u2019s race in Austin, the S\u00e3o Paulo Grand Prix in Brazil and the Las Vegas Grand Prix in late November.<\/p>\n
McLaren CEO Zak Brown recently told Sky Sports he was optimistic that he could get Lambiase to Woking sometime next year, before his official \u201cby 2028\u201d start date.<\/p>\n
The transfer process could start early next year, when former Aston Martin performance director Tom McCullogh joins Red Bull Racing as Lambiase\u2019s successor as head of racing.<\/p>\n
Lambiase is likely to then be required to undertake a period of gardening leave to fulfil his non-compete obligations.<\/p>\n
In a timely milestone, the team sent Lambiase to collect the winning constructor trophy on the Singapore Grand Prix podium, joining Verstappen in his victory celebrations. It was the only track on the calendar, other than the new Madrid circuit, at which the driver-engineer duo hadn\u2019t won.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember he said to me last year in Vegas, \u2018This might be the last time I\u2019m on the podium\u2019,\u201d Verstappen recalled.<\/p>\n
\u201cI said, \u2018Don\u2019t be silly. We\u2019re going to win much more.\u2019 I almost jinxed myself there, I guess.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was just super nice that they sent him up. Of course we all know that he is leaving, but I think it was very special to share the podium here on a track that we had not won together. Very nice to see him up there.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem says the Qatar and Abu Dhabi grands prix will go ahead as planned…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":935628,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[64,63,817,813,816,85],"class_list":["post-935627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/935627","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=935627"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/935627\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/935628"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=935627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=935627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=935627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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