In arranging for Malaysia to host the 2026 Bahrain Grand Prix, Formula 1 has creatively resolved one of the problems generated by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
But two more are looming, as is the deadline for making a decision on them: Qatar and Abu Dhabi, the rounds currently scheduled after Las Vegas in the season-closing triple-header. The situation in the Middle East remains volatile and the World Endurance Championship has already announced that it will end its season in Europe, cancelling rounds in Qatar and Bahrain in late October and early November.
F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has now confirmed that he will leave a decision on the final two grands prix as late as possible – mid-September – and that if they do have to be cancelled they will be replaced by a European round rather than adding another fixture in North America.
“With regard to the end of the season, we are in touch with all the other championships,” Domenicali told select media including Autosport.
“And I know that, for example, WEC has announced they will not go at the end of the year in the Middle East and will stay in Europe. The way that we are structured is that we will take the maximum time for us to see how the situation will develop.
“And we will take the decision at the right time. That moment will be not before the middle of September. So as we said, for us today, the races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi are confirmed.
The start of the 2025 F1 title decider and finale at Abu Dhabi
Photo by: Nicolas Economou / NurPhoto via Getty Images
“By the way, they are already sold out. That is an incredible sign of how much the sport is bigger than the problem that our world is living.
“But of course, if the situation would not be clearer the way that we believe it should be, before the middle of September, we will take the decision. And on that respect, I just want to confirm to you that if this will not be possible, the end of the season will be in Europe, because we cannot go in other places.
“There are some possibilities on the table, but I don’t think it’s right to make some promises or anticipate a set of things. That’s the situation of today.
“So even if I really hope it will not be the case, if the situation will not allow for us to be there [the Middle East], we’re going to finish the championship in Europe.”
Word had circulated in the paddock that another race at Austin’s Circuit of The Americas was being mooted, as was a double-header in Las Vegas.
However, while these would make logistical sense, the week after the Las Vegas Grand Prix on 21 November is the Thanksgiving holiday in the US, which would mean scheduling a putative additional race weekend against a panoply of National Football League (NFL) matches. The NFL has five games scheduled over the public holiday from November 25-27, including ones in Los Angeles and Dallas.
Imola is a likely candidate to host the season finale – besides the possibility of snow, there will be divided loyalties for the Ferrari fans given that an Italian driving a Mercedes has become a championship contender…
Photo by: Getty Images
Also, while F1 is keen to trumpet the Las Vegas Grand Prix as a barnstorming success – uniquely, it also acts as promoter for the race – the event is still evolving in terms of the balance between VIP hospitality and general admission. The inaugural event in 2023 was marred by ongoing disputes with local stakeholders and many VIP areas were conspicuously underpopulated, suggesting there was some misjudgement over the anticipated demand.
This month Liberty Media, F1’s parent company, agreed a $3million settlement to end a class-action lawsuit brought by spectators who were removed from viewing areas ahead of FP1 in 2023, after the session was delayed for emergency remedial work on the track.
Of the potential European alternatives, Imola is the most likely since the tracks in Turkey and Portugal which would theoretically enjoy better weather are undergoing work to bring them up to the necessary standards to join the calendar next year.
“If I look at the statistics of the temperature in Europe in that time [early December], it’s less cold than Las Vegas average temperature when we are racing,” claimed Domenicali.
“So it’s definitely something that no one knows where the temperature will go or how it will be weather-like. I think that actually we see in this situation of how the evolution of the climate change is happening – there’s no certainty on anything about that.
“Definitely, I can guarantee to you that we will not do any other race in the US. There was a possibility of having two races in Las Vegas, but we don’t want to ruin, let me put it in this way, something that is growing by undervaluing what we are doing there.
If F1 does race at Imola this year, it’ll look a lot different to last season’s mid-May running
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
“And of course, we don’t have to forget that in that period of the year, we are fighting the US against NFL. That is a major sport that is, I don’t want to say attractive, but there’s a lot of fans watching that.
“So we need to avoid any kind of situation that would put us in front of something that, of course, is still very big in the US. Therefore, considering the constraint that we have, we need to go back to close all the Brexit-connected documentation from abroad in the UK and then go to another place.
“Therefore the only possibility is to finish in Europe within the same framework of the time, hoping that there will be no snow, as we can hope in other places. I remember in Nurburgring, we were having many years ago, the racing, we had also a situation where we had some spits of snow that actually became rain.
“So hopefully this will not happen. If it’s happening, we’ll try to react on that.
“But I think that the weather should allow us to race in Europe even at the beginning of December.”
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– The Autosport.com Team
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