The Qatar and Abu Dhabi grands prix which will conclude Formula 1’s 2026 season are set to proceed as planned, provided there is no dramatic escalation of the Iran war.
The Middle Eastern conflict, which started in late February as the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran, has destabilised the region. The calendars of many motorsport championships have been impacted – not least F1’s, whose Saudi Arabian race was cancelled while Bahrain’s round was postponed and hosted in Malaysia.
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F1 has been monitoring the situation closely, with a Imola as an alternative season finale on the first weekend of December if Qatar and Abu Dhabi were unable to host their respective events.
Lusail did run its MotoGP round without major issues last weekend, though both Yamaha teams withdrew from the competition due to the geopolitical situation.
10 November was F1’s deadline to provide Imola with a final answer as to whether the Italian track would have to prepare for a grand prix in the next three weeks; it will not.
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Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Isack Hadjar, Racing Bulls
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Isack Hadjar, Racing Bulls
So the 2026 season will end with the planned Las Vegas-Qatar-Abu Dhabi triple-header, with travel insurance and governments’ travel advice currently allowing it.
However, there’s a caveat: F1 is aware it cannot guarantee the situation won’t change by early December and insists it will prioritise safety if the conflict escalates.
Team bosses have been maintaining a straightforward stance on the matter – they trust F1 and the FIA to make the right calls.
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“I trust them to take the best decision for all of us,” Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur commented in Mexico. “Me, personally, I want to race. It doesn’t matter where, but I want to race. Now, I will go where they will tell us to go.”
“Stefano and Mohammed have been pretty clear about the situation that Formula 1 follows what the international guidelines are, whether there are travel restrictions, airlines not flying, any warnings in the region, the kind of feedback that local governments are making,” his Mercedes counterpart Toto Wolff added in Friday’s press conference at Interlagos. “So not only the promoters, but what the local governments are making. And this is what you need to rely on, in my opinion, and I’m fully with that.
Toto Wolff, Mercedes
Toto Wolff, Mercedes
“I think that if riders stand up, who know nothing geopolitically about what’s going on, but have an audience that listens, I think that is something that creates media value. But I would have done the same as MotoGP management has done. You want to ride or drive, go. If you don’t want to, don’t go. It’s as simple as that, and everybody can take their personal decisions on that, and I respect that.
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“Of course, you’ve got to be wary of what’s happening in the next few days, a few weeks, and Stefano has his finger on the pulse to monitor that. If things were to get more dangerous and we would get that feedback, then he’s going to be the first one, together with Mohammed, to protect the people that were meant to travel. So that’s why I’m following their guidance.
“From what I’m hearing internally, it hasn’t been raised. It hasn’t been a topic. But also there, if someone feels they don’t feel comfortable, he or she doesn’t feel comfortable travelling, then it’s something that I would always respect. And maybe that’s an opportunity to give somebody else a chance. It wouldn’t change anything for the relationship. I’ve always respected that some people didn’t want to go to certain grands prix, and that’s how I see it at the moment.”
Additional reporting by Ronald Vording
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
