Why didn't F1 replace the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian GPs?

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Why didn't F1 replace the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian GPs?

We now have just a 22-race season

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Sunday 5 April 2026 16:27

There are no F1 races in April, much to the dismay of fans of the sport all around the world.

The reason for the cancellation of the Saudi Arabian and Bahrain Grands Prix are of course wholly understandable, with the ongoing war in the Middle East, and cutting down the 2026 season to 22 races is a small price to pay to ensure everybody's safety.

But some fans may be wondering why the two races were not replaced by other events, with a number of tracks keenly looking to make their return to the F1 schedule, including the Paul Ricard Circuit in France, the Nurburgring in Germany and Imola, which until this year had been on the calendar since 2020.

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We now have a five-week break in the schedule, something which could have big ramifications for the 2026 season as a whole, with Mercedes' rivals working hard behind the scenes to try and make gains on the dominant Brackley-based outfit.

Why are there only 22 races on the 2026 F1 calendar?

Following the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix, it has been reported that Imola was one of the tracks that was in the mix for another F1 race to be added to the schedule, alongside Portimao in Portugal which is likely to be added for 2027 and 2028, and the former home of the Turkish GP which was last used in 2021.

There was also a small possibility that a second Japanese race could be added to the calendar, not least because the Fuji Speedway and Mobility Resort Motegi are regularly used for Super Formula races anyway.

However, in the end a decision was made not to replace the two cancelled races, with the difficulty of putting on a new event at such short notice thought to be too much with the ticket sales and a number of other logistical factors.

What's more, the pressure being put on F1 team personnel each season is at an all-time high already, with the last two seasons being the joint-longest in F1 history, and adding two races at short notice could prove too much.

Then there was the issue of a hosting fee, with each circuit on the calendar having to pay a sum of money to F1 to host a race in motorsport's elite series. F1 didn't feel as though they could get a significant enough hosting fee at such short notice to be worth the almighty task of trying to put a race on.

When is the next F1 race?

The Miami GP weekend begins on Friday May 1 and is a sprint weekend, so we will see FP1 and sprint qualifying on that first Friday in May.

Saturday May 2 then sees the sprint race before attention will switch to the grand prix with grand prix qualifying later on the Saturday, and the Miami Grand Prix on Sunday, May 3 with a lights out time of 4pm local time (9pm BST).

F1 Bahrain Grand Prix Saudi Arabian Grand Prix