Formula 1 has set a precedent when it comes to cancelling races amid conflict or civil unrest in the Middle East, even if this season’s plans remain unaffected. The political situation in the Gulf, with a United States base in Bahrain, rocked by an explosion amid escalating tensions, has prompted questions about the upcoming Grand Prix in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. The 2026 season begins this weekend in Australia and, as things stand, will see drivers head to Bahrain on April 12 and Saudi Arabia seven days later. There are no immediate plans to strike those races from the calendar, but F1’s higher-ups have shown a willingness to act in the past.

In 2011, the Bahrain Grand Prix had been scheduled for March but was postponed amid anti-government protests. The country had only been added to the F1 schedule for the first time in 2004, but organisers felt they had no choice but to push back the 2011 edition. After being initially postponed until October, it was ultimately removed from that year’s calendar altogether. The decision came after former world champion Damon Hill called out F1’s decision to keep the event intact following the protests.

“This crisis is an opportunity for Formula One to show that it cares about all people and their human rights,” Hill said at the time. “I am not an official spokesperson for Formula One. I only speak for myself.

“If Formula One agrees to race in Bahrain, it will forever have the blight of association with repressive methods to achieve order. The right thing to do, in my view, is to not race in Bahrain until these doubts have been removed.”

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After the 2011 race was scrapped, human rights activists made renewed calls to also remove Bahrain from the 2012 calendar. However, those pleas were ignored, and the race went ahead.

The Saudi Arabia Grand Prix is a more recent addition, held for the first time in 2021. The following year, Yemen’s Houthi rebel group attacked an oil depot a little over 10 miles away from the circuit in Jeddah during race weekend.

Drivers were taking part in Friday practice that same day, with Max Verstappen raising concerns to engineer Gianpiero Lambiase after smelling smoke. He was offered reassurances that his car wasn’t on fire, though there were still some worries over the race itself, given the situation.

These fears were eventually allayed, with the Grand Prix Drivers Association later commenting on the situation. “Yesterday was a difficult day for Formula One and a stressful day for us Formula One drivers,” their statement began.

“Perhaps it is difficult to comprehend if you have never driven an F1 car on this fast and challenging Jeddah track, but on seeing the smoke from the incident, it was difficult to remain a fully focused race driver and erase natural human concerns. Consequently, we went into long discussions between ourselves, with our team principals, and with the most senior people who run our sport.

“A large variety of opinions were shared and debated and, having listened not only to the Formula 1 powers but also to the Saudi government minister who explained how security measures were being elevated to the maximum, the outcome was a resolution that we would practice and qualify today and race tomorrow. We therefore hope that the 2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix will be remembered as a good race rather than for the incident that took place yesterday.”

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