It’s hard to believe that only five Grands Prix have been run by the start of June – As a fan it feels like we’ve barely watched a race for months and that’s actually fairly true. The nine weekends between the Japanese and Monaco GPs only featured F1 racing on two of those, something that is totally alien in the current F1 landscape.
Everyone is aware of the issue, with the conflict in the Middle East causing the postponement of both the Bahraini and Saudi Arabian events. Those being cancelled is not a disaster in itself, as we see races get cancelled fairly regularly across different series for a multitude of reasons, but looking forward, there are more problems on the horizon.
With the geopolitical situation in the region still unstable, the Qatar and Abu Dhabi Grands Prix are now in doubt. What does F1 do if these races do need to be cancelled? To lose four of the season’s 24 events is not ideal for the championship, especially given Qatar and Abu Dhabi are set to be the two season-ending events.
The first thing the FIA need to do is to have clarity on the situation with plenty of notice for the competitors. If the final two rounds must be cancelled, the teams, drivers and fans need to know well in advance, both for travel reasons and for the impacts on the championship. What an anti-climax it would be if a champion was crowned by the cancellation of a race rather than with an on-track performance…
If the races do end up having to be cancelled, the most straightforward thing to do is just to make the 2026 season a 20-race campaign. Clearly this is not ideal for the championship itself, as these two events are very popular and lucrative for F1, but if they are cancelled in good time, the F1 world can adapt to a season finale in Las Vegas in November, despite F1 boss Stefano Domenicali saying that this will not be the case.
The other option is to replace these races. But where are we going to find tracks that are capable of hosting Grands Prix late in the year? Most of Europe will likely be too cold, but there are still options here. Portimão and Istanbul Park are both set to return in 2027, maybe they could make an early comeback? Malaysia could also be an option, although December would fall in the country’s Northeast Monsoon season.
A third, more radical option could be to hold multiple races at the same track. F1 could realistically head back to the likes of São Paulo, Mexico City or Miami. Or what if double-headers could be held? Maybe it’s a logistical nightmare, but what if F1 could run a Free Practice and a qualifying session on a Friday, before a second qualifying and first race on Saturday, with the second Grand Prix taking place on Sunday? In effect, this isn’t too much more track time than in a standard Sprint weekend.
We don’t know what F1 will decide, but they definitely have options. For now, we can just sit back and enjoy what’s turning out to be a very intriguing F1 campaign.