F1 cancels Bahrain and Saudi GPs in April
Formula 1 will cancel its April races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia amid Middle East conflict, cutting the 2026 calendar and stressing safety-first planning for teams and fans reported and confirmed.
The Bahrain International Circuit was scheduledformula1.com to host Sakhir over the weekend of April 10–12, 2026, with the Jeddah Corniche Circuit pencilled in for April 17–19, 2026.formula1.com Saudi Arabia reportedly pays about £30m for its raceindependent.co.uk while Bahrain’s hosting fee is estimated near £24mindependent.co.uk, a combined sum of roughly £54m in annual race-rights money at stake.independent.co.uk Teams move critical kit by a mix of air and sea freightf1briefing.com and, according to paddock sources, freight is usually routed into Bahrain then overland to Jeddahsportsnaut.com — a logistics pattern that reporters say makes replacing or saving one Gulf weekend without the other impractical, and would create a five‑week gap between the Japanese round (Mar 27–29) and Miami (May 1–3) on the official 2026 calendar.sports.yahoo.com Seven‑time champion Lewis Hamilton voiced public support for F1 leadership, saying he trusted Stefano Domenicali “will do what is right,”espn.com as Formula 1 and the FIA conducted security assessments with promoters and insurers in the days after regional strikes were reported.skysports.com
