FIA approve new race after F1 cancellations

Photo: © IMAGO

FIA

FIA approve new race after F1 cancellations

The Bahrain and Saudi Arabian events were cancelled

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Friday 3 April 2026 17:53

The FIA have announced a change in one of their racing series' calendar, following the cancellation of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekend.

Two new races have been added to the F1 Academy schedule in order to make up for the cancellation of that race weekend at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.

F1 have lost two grand prix weekends from the schedule due to the war in the Middle East, with both the Saudi Arabian and Bahrain Grands Prix being cancelled, but in F1 Academy, only the Saudi Arabian event was on their 2026 schedule.

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However, F1 Academy events have two races - a reverse grid race and the feature race - and so two new races have been added to ensure that it is still a 14-race season.

These are coming in the form of a new 'opening race' which has been added into the FIA sporting regulations.

At the Canadian and United States Grands Prix weekends, F1 Academy will have three races on the schedule, with the opening race sitting at the start of the series' weekend racing schedule.

The grid for this race will be set by the usual qualifying session, but will take the drivers' second-best qualifying lap in order to set it, meaning the drivers will have to put in two excellent laps in order to be on pole position for both the original race and the feature race later in the weekend.

Full points will be available for the extra race, making it crucial for the drivers' championship hopes.

Fans of the all-female racing series will get three opportunities to see their favourite drivers racing during the Canadian and United States GP later this year, a tantalising prospect.

The Canadian GP weekend takes place between May 22-24, while the penultimate weekend of the season in Austin is on October 23-25.

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Who is leading the 2026 F1 Academy standings?

We have only had one F1 Academy race weekend so far in 2026 - the Chinese Grand Prix, meaning we've had one reverse grid race and one feature race.

MP Motorsport's Nina Gademan won the reverse grid race, picking up the full 10 points for that one, but only sits third in the early drivers' standings after finishing fourth in the feature race.

19-year-old Emma Felbermayr leads the F1 Academy championship as things stand, after winning the first feature race of the year at the Shanghai International Circuit.

She sits six points ahead of Campos Racing's Alisha Palmowski.

F1 FIA Saudi Arabian Grand Prix F1 Academy