New Middle East attacks raise more questions over F1 finale plans

Fresh questions have been raised over the viability of holding the Qatar and Abu Dhabi Grands Prix at the end of the current F1 season.

The Qatar race is now just a month and a half away, and both F1 and the FIA continue to insist that the plan is still to hold the race as normal despite continued unrest and violence in the Middle East.

However, continued missile strikes in the region – including Houthi strikes on Saudi Arabia's King Khalid International Airport this weekend, which killed 14 people and injured hundreds more – have continued to raise concerns over the safety of teams and drivers if they have to travel.

A tanker was also hit by 'multiple projectiles' off the coast of Qatar last week, with the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations saying that there were 'casualties reported' in the incident.

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Will F1 race in Qatar and Abu Dhabi this season?

Should the races go ahead teams will be asked to undertake the large scale operation which would see them collectively transport thousands of people and tons or equipment (and cars!) to the conflict-hit region.

It's also worth mentioning that the logistics of the event would likely be impacted by the issues around Strait of Hormuz specifically, with teams typically transporting their equipment by sea over long distances.

F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali's most recent comments on the matter, coming last weekend at the Bahrain Grand Prix (held in Malaysia for reasons very similar to those being discussed here), still projected a reasonable amount of positivity.

"Yes, as we've already said, the calendar is confirmed: the last two Grands Prix will be in Qatar and Abu Dhabi," he said. "This is the direction we've taken based on the information and reassurances we have – and which we absolutely must have, of course. It's the strategy we'll apply until the end of the year."

While that looks absolute and definitive, it's actually just a continuation of Domenicali's refusal to take the races off the calendar until absolutely necessary. As some team principals revealed recently, an actual final decision on the races is expected in mid-October – and the 3rd of the month, when the Italian spoke, is decidedly not 'mid-October'.

If a final decision truly is made and communicated in mid October, then expect to hear about it long before the next F1 grand prix in Austin, Texas.

GPFans understands that in light of the recent attacks in the Middle East, F1's position is unchanged in that it will continue to be in touch with relative authorities over the region, and that it still plans to race in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

Why is F1's Qatar and Abu Dhabi decision taking so long?

Why on earth is the decision taking so long, with less than two months remaining until Qatar's race is supposed to kick off? Unsurprisingly, a big part of the equation is money.

F1 is likely to be playing a game of chicken with the race organisers over which party will officially call off the races. When the promotors are the ones who hit the big red button, they're typically obliged to still pay their hefty sanctioning fee – a number well into eight figures.

When the cancellation is initiated by the commercial rights holder (in this case, F1 owner Liberty Media) though, the sanctioning fee heads back to its point of origin. As such, neither party is willing to just bite the bullet and announce the cancellation that is widely expected.

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