Bahrain, Jeddah off calendar
The Bahrain and Saudi Arabia rounds were canceled or postponed, and Formula 2 added replacement rounds in Miami and Montreal to fill the gaps ( | ). Team bosses have described Miami as a potential 'restart' for the season and teams are already using simulators and bench testing to prepare for that round ( ).
Formula 2 has rewritten its spring schedule after the Bahrain and Saudi Arabia rounds dropped out of April, with Miami and Montreal taking their places. (fiaformula2.com) The series said on April 9 that Miami will host Round 2 on May 1-3 and Montreal will host Round 3 on May 22-24, before the championship returns to Europe in Monaco on June 4-7. (formula1.com) Formula 2 and Formula 1 both said the Sakhir and Jeddah events will not take place in April, and Formula 1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali said the replacement plan was built with the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile and the Miami and Montreal promoters. (fiaformula2.com) That switch sends Formula 2 to North America for the first time in the championship’s history. Federation Internationale de l'Automobile president Mohammed Ben Sulayem said the added rounds keep the 2026 calendar “strong and balanced” after the early changes. (formula1.com) The gap has also reshaped Formula 1’s opening month. PlanetF1 reported a five-week break between Japan and Miami after the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix were canceled, creating an unusual stretch of unrestricted factory time in April. (planetf1.com) Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur said in Japan that “from Miami onwards, there will probably be another championship,” and Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said Miami could be a “restart” as teams arrive with upgrades and better understanding of the new cars. (planetf1.com) Those new cars matter here because 2026 brought Formula 1’s biggest rule overhaul in more than a decade, with shorter and lighter chassis, revised power units, and active aerodynamics that change wing angles on track. (formula1.com) Teams are using the break for more than bolt-on upgrades. Scuderia Fans reported that, after an April 9 meeting led by the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile, teams began simulator work and bench testing on possible rule tweaks, with another technical meeting set for April 16 and a governance meeting planned for April 20. (scuderiafans.com) So Miami now carries two jobs at once: it restarts Formula 2 on May 1 and opens the next phase of Formula 1’s 2026 development race on the same weekend. (fiaformula2.com | planetf1.com)
