Racing
© Jonathan Borba
Formula 1 still hopes to restore the Bahrain Grand Prix to its 2026 calendar, with Stefano Domenicali confirming the series is exploring a return on 4 October but needs to make the call before the summer break.
Bahrain is the leading candidate from the two Middle East races that were cancelled earlier this year, after both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia were dropped from their original April slots as rounds four and five because of the regional conflict. That cut the planned 24-round season to 22, and a Bahrain comeback between the Azerbaijan and Singapore Grands Prix would lift the total back to 23.
Domenicali, Formula 1 president and CEO, said the championship would only move if the wider situation allows it. “If there is something that we can announce also related to the possibility of seeing if there is any space for what has not been done so far, we're going to do it, in the right moment and the right conditions,” he told Sky Sports F1. He added: “That is really the hope, because if all the conditions are right, we're going to go ahead with our plan. If there is a chance, why not?”
The timing is the real pressure point. Domenicali said any plan to recover one of the cancelled races has to be settled before Formula 1’s summer shutdown, which begins after the Hungarian Grand Prix on 26 July. That deadline is driven as much by logistics as security, with teams, promoters and suppliers needing enough time to reorganize freight and personnel for the closing phase of the season.
If Bahrain is inserted into the gap between Baku and Singapore, F1 would be committing itself to an even denser finish than originally planned. The final part of the season would then run to nine races in 11 weeks, made up of three triple-headers separated by one-week breaks.
Domenicali has also signaled that F1 remains optimistic about completing its existing end-of-season schedule in the Middle East, with Qatar and Abu Dhabi still set for 29 November and 6 December. He said the sport’s duty is to be ready to deliver the calendar as planned while continuing to monitor conditions closely.
That does not mean the championship is working without a fallback. Several reports say Portimão is the contingency option if the late-season races in Qatar or Abu Dhabi cannot go ahead, a scenario that would otherwise risk the schedule shrinking as far as 20 races. For now, though, the immediate decision is whether Bahrain can be brought back in time to preserve a 23-race season and keep F1’s original Middle East plan broadly intact.