F2 and F3 plan to race despite fears of F1 grands prix cancellation in Middle East crisis

Formula 1's support series' F2 and F3 are reportedly making plans to still race despite F1 fearing they may have to cancel respective grands prix in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

Due to the Middle East crisis in the conflict involving the Untied States, Israel and Iran, F1 could be set to cancel the upcoming grands prix without finding a replacement.

Next month, F1 is scheduled to return to Bahrain for the fourth round of the 2026 campaign between April 10 and April 12, after Sakhir successfully hosted the extensive pre-season tests across a two-week programme.

A week later, the championship is supposed to resume in Jeddah for the Saudi Arabian GP between April 17 and April 19, but it is looking unlikely that any circuit in the Middle East would be able to host F1 or its support series as things stand.

Last month, a weekend of turmoil in the Middle East was triggered by a bombing campaign in Iran, launched by the US and Israel. Iran then retaliated by launching strikes that targeted US bases in nearby countries, including Bahrain.

The world of motorsport has been swept up in the ongoing situation with travel complications coming into play ahead of last weekend's Australian GP given that Qatar and the UAE are international airport hubs.

A statement from Mohammed Ben Sulayem provided to GPFans by an FIA spokesperson read: “As President of the FIA, my thoughts are with all those affected by the recent events in the Middle East. We are deeply saddened by the loss of life and stand with the families and communities impacted.

"At this moment of uncertainty, we hope for calm, safety, and a swift return to stability. Dialogue and the protection of civilians must remain priorities.

"We are in close contact with our Member Clubs, championship promoters, teams, and colleagues on the ground as we monitor developments carefully and responsibly.

"Safety and wellbeing will guide our decisions as we assess the forthcoming events scheduled there. Our organisation is built on unity and shared purpose. That unity matters now more than ever.”

A decision is expected soon on F1's April events and although there were reports of Portimao and Imola being raised as possible replacement hosts for the two races, Sky Sports reported that if F1 did move to cancel the fourth and fifth rounds of 2026, no replacement races would be assigned.

A further report is now suggesting this would not be the case for F2 and F3 if next month's events were moved, with both racing series' also governed by the FIA.

GPFans contacted the FIA, F2 and F3 for comment.

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Will there be an racing in April?

As the motorsport calendar continues to be unconfirmed across multiple series for April 2026, Spanish motorsports publication SoyMotor took to social media platform 'X' to report: "Formula 2 and Formula 3 are working on moving these races to other circuits so that all the scheduled races can be completed.

"The F2 and F3 equipment was supposed to travel directly from Melbourne to Sakhir, but according to SoyMotor, the equipment for both categories will remain in Australia for another week until the logistics can be reorganised."

F3 do not race in Saudi Arabia so would only be looking to find one potential replacement race for their events on the weekend of April 10-April 12, which is currently scheduled to take place in Bahrain.

F2 on the other hand does follow F1 to both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, so would need to find two replacement tracks between April 10-April 12 and April 17-April 19 judging from the reports in Spanish media.

Though no official confirmation has come from F1, FOM or the FIA over whether April's F1 race weekends will be cancelled altogether, it currently looks as if F2 and F3 might be the only series' racing next month, although it is highly unlikely that they would be given the go ahead to race in the Middle East.

The FIA already moved to postpone one upcoming racing event due to the missile attacks, announcing last week that the season opener of the 2026 World Endurance Championship had been moved.

The Qatar 1812km was originally set to take place as the first round of the FIA WEC on March 26 until March 28, but the governing body confirmed that it has instead been postponed until later in the year.

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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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