THE U.S. AND ISRAELI ATTACKS on Iran, and the unyielding response from the Iranians, has thrown a major spanner in the works of the international motorsport calendar.
First was the World Endurance Championship (WEC) calling off its season-opening race in Qatar on Tuesday. The WEC round was the first major motorsport event in the region to be cancelled since the conflict erupted at the weekend, closing airspace in the Gulf region and causing travel chaos.
But much bigger repercussions are surrounding Formula One. Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, both of which are due to host F1 races in April, are under a cloud.
FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem said the FIA was monitoring developments across the region.
Bahrain’s race is scheduled as the fourth of 24 on the calendar on April 12, with Jeddah the weekend after, and it had already sold out all grandstand tickets in the week before the U.S. and the Israeli jointly launched an all out war on Iran.
“With 40 days to the race, it is too early to assess the impact that the regional situation may or may not have on the race weekend,” the Bahrain International Circuit authorities said in a statement.
“From an operational perspective, BIC continues its planning for the race weekend, and our dedicated team and offices at the circuit are working to that effect.”
Formula One sources told the BBC that the sport was still several weeks away from the point of having to make a decision, and the safety and security of everyone who might be attending would remain the priority.
At the moment though it appears that there is a minimal chance of the 2026 calendar staying at 24 races as originally scheduled. The more realistic scenario looks to be for this season’s schedule to have two less destinations.
