F1 News Today: FIA postpone race over Iran missile attacks, Aston Martin fans revolt

The FIA, the governing body that controls motorsport series' such as F1, WRC and WEC have announced they will be postponing the opening round of the 2026 World Endurance Championship following the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

The Qatar 1812km was originally set to take place as the first event of the 2026 FIA WEC series from March 26 until March 28, but has now been postponed until later in the year after a weekend of turmoil triggered by a bombing campaign in Iran, launched by the US and Israel, that led Iran to retaliate by launching strikes that targeted US bases in nearby countries, including Qatar.

As the conflict continued last weekend, F1 moved to calm fears that some of its own upcoming races could be impacted by the situation, with a statement provided to GPFans stating: “Our next three races are in Australia, China and Japan not in the Middle East - those races are not for a number of weeks. As always we closely monitor any situation like this and work closely with relevant authorities.”

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F1 star set to make 500th appearance at Australian GP - but he’s NOT on the 2026 grid

As F1 returns to our screens this weekend for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, one star of the sport will be taking to the track for a whopping 500th time in their career.

Albert Park Circuit will once again be the host of the first round of the F1 championship as a new era of the sport is ushered in thanks to the complete overhaul of the chassis and power unit regulations for 2026 and beyond.

But whilst some teams are concerned over what could go wrong across the 58-lap race (I'm looking at you Aston Martin) German driver Bernd Maylander is preparing to make his 500th appearance as the official FIA F1 safety car driver.

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Aston Martin fans revolt over massive F1 flop: 'I won’t be wearing these colours'

Aston Martin F1 fans have taken to social media to share their distaste at a new release from the Silverstone-based outfit.

Ahead of 2026, Aston Martin entered into a new power unit partnership with Honda, but that has not got off to the best of starts.

During 2026 pre-season testing, Aston Martin put in the least amount of laps of all the teams after suffering frequent issues with their new Honda PU, and now, the F1 team have released some pretty expensive merchandise that has got fans up in arms.

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Lewis Hamilton delivers audacious message for his critics upon hitting landmark F1 moment

The 2026 F1 season is bringing about lots of change thanks to the new power unit and chassis regulations.

But one thing that won't be going anywhere is Lewis Hamilton, with the seven-time champion returning to race in red for a second season after a disastrous start with Ferrari in F1.

But Hamilton is determined to not let his doubters get to him, with the 41-year-old delivering a pretty bold message to his fans and his haters ahead of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, which will kick of his 20th season in the sport.

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Aston Martin F1 2026 Preview: Only Adrian Newey and Fernando Alonso can stop the shambles

Despite poor results, Aston Martin have had one of the most relaxed two years on the F1 grid.

Since an outstanding start to the 2023 season where they looked like being the only opposition to the ultra–dominant Max Verstappen and Red Bull juggernaut, they have dwindled into almost irrelevance.

But with F1 design genius Adrian Newey and two-time champion finally pairing up at Aston Martin, maybe things will start to go their way again? Or, maybe they won't... here's everything you need to know about Lawrence Stroll's F1 team ahead of the 2026 campaign.

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F1 star will start 2026 season on the edge of race BAN

This weekend's season-opening Australian Grand Prix will be one to watch for many reasons, with plenty of action, potentially good and bad on the cards due to the new regulations.

All 22 drivers on the grid will need to watch out as they get to grips with all the new tactics and terminology, but one driver in particular has to ensure he delivers a clean race in Melbourne with just two penalty points to spare before he finds himself slapped with a race ban.

Haas F1 driver Ollie Bearman managed to rack up 10 FIA penalty points during his maiden season in the sport last year, and none of those expire until May 23, meaning he is on the verge of a race ban in 2026 before he's even taken to the track.

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Written by

Kerry Violet - F1 News Editor

Having graduated from the University of Sheffield with a 2:1 in Journalism in 2022, Kerry continued her pursuit of finding a full-time position in motorsport through work with the F1 Arcade in London, where she got to meet true fans of the sport and make a live grand prix watch party memorable for them. It was here that she confirmed her dream of combining her background in journalism and love of motorsport, going on to volunteer with the female-led platform Empoword Journalism. Having completed stints as a screen editor and sports editor, Kerry landed her first F1-specific editorial role with GPFans and has thoroughly enjoyed continuing to work closely with the sport ever since. The access GPFans offers Kerry has allowed her to interview big names such as Naomi Schiff and David Coulthard and given her experiences she could only have dreamt of as a young F1 fan.

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