This year’s Formula One season finale is set to take place at the home circuit of Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari team in Imola if the scheduled final two rounds in Qatar and Abu Dhabi cannot be staged.
F1 bosses have been forced to amend the championship calendar due to the Middle Eastern conflict, with a new round in Malaysia on 4 October also expected to be confirmed in the next 24 hours.
It is understood the Sepang International Circuit, 40 miles south of Kuala Lumpur, will fill a void between the races in Azerbaijan on 26 September and Singapore on 11 October.
F1 bosses had looked at reviving the postponed Bahrain Grand Prix – which had been due to take place on 12 April – instead. But continued uncertainty in the region has made that impossible.
PA has been told the Malaysian round, which could be confirmed as early as Sunday, is set to be called the ‘Bahrain Grand Prix’, with money for the event bankrolled by Bahrain – and Sepang effectively hosting the Gulf Kingdom’s race. The circuit last held an F1 event in 2017.
The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, originally pencilled in for 19 April, would be scrapped altogether from the calendar.
The season is scheduled to to finish with events in Qatar on 29 November and in Abu Dhabi a week later, but both races remain up in the air.
It is understood F1 chiefs have subsequently plotted a contingency plan with Imola poised to take Qatar’s place on the same weekend if the Middle Eastern races are scrapped.
It would mark the first time an F1 season has concluded in Europe for nearly 30 years, after Jerez staged the concluding round of the 1997 campaign.
Hamilton, who is in the hunt for his record eighth world championship, may see the possible switch to the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola as a good omen.
Hamilton is 45 points behind Italian teenager Kimi Antonelli in the world championship ahead of this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix.