"Despite there being no guarantee the conflict will still be ongoing by the time their event dates roll around, a decision needed to be taken imminently due to the logistics of when teams had to start sending freight to the Middle East for both events."
"With no guarantee of either when the conflict will end or whether there will be escalations in the conflict down the line, F1 does not want to be in a position where a championship is decided or influenced by a race being cancelled at the tail-end of the calendar."
"I know that [F1 CEO] Stefano [Domenicali] will do what is right for all of us and the sport. That is the great thing with having a great leader like him."
Formula 1 has decided to cancel its April races in Bahrain on April 12 and Saudi Arabia on April 19 due to the ongoing Iran conflict following attacks by the United States and Israel. Although there is no certainty the conflict will continue through April, F1 needed to make an immediate decision regarding freight logistics for both events. The races are unlikely to be rescheduled, as the back-end calendar is tightly packed. F1 wants to avoid having a championship decided or influenced by a late-season cancellation. This decision reduces the 2026 schedule from 24 to 22 races, creating a five-week gap between Japan on March 29 and Miami on May 3. Lewis Hamilton supports F1's decision-making process.
Read at ESPN.com
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