F1 race could be 'added' at the end of the 2026 season in late move

Isack Hadjar, Lewis Hamilton, Generic, Bahrain, 2025, test — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 News & Gossip

F1 race could be 'added' at the end of the 2026 season in late move

This year's F1 season is '?????' races long

Chris Deeley

Sunday 28 June 2026 06:45 Updated: 09:20

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F1's 2026 season could be expanded beyond its current 22 races, according to reports this week.

The planned 24-race season had two races struck from it due to conflict in the Middle East, with the Saudi Arabian and Bahrain events cancelled when it became clear that their April calendar spots would not be viable.

However, Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo report that – as has been rumoured at various times over recent months – F1 is still very keen on bringing at least one of those two races back in a rearranged slot.

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GPFans understands that the situation in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia is still being monitored by F1, with the Middle East peace agreement earlier in June still in its infancy.

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Bahrain race could set up triple-header

The Spanish report claims that the 11 team principals will meet this Saturday at the Austrian Grand Prix 'to find a solution and try to reschedule these races', although it then adds that the meeting 'will be about a different, unknown issue'. Make of that what you will.

It adds that the Bahrain race is the more likely of the two to find a new home on the calendar this season, slotting in neatly on the first weekend of October to create a triple-header, flanked by the Azerbaijan Grand Prix the weekend before it and the Singapore Grand Prix after.

A potential Saudi re-addition to the schedule would require much more of a shake-up, including potentially moving the date of the Las Vegas Grand Prix. That, truthfully, feels like a deeply unlikely outcome.

Of course, a re-ignition of hostilities in the area would render the issue moot – with the big question then surrounding whether the season-ending races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi would be viable.

F1 Bahrain Grand Prix Saudi Arabian Grand Prix