F1 monitors Middle East tensions ahead of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia races
Formula 1 chiefs are monitoring the situation in the Middle East following an explosion near a US base in Bahrain, raising concerns over upcoming races in the region.
The 2026 season begins in Australia this weekend, but attention is already turning to the scheduled double-header in the Gulf next month.
Drivers are due to travel to Sakhir for the Bahrain Grand Prix on 12 April, followed by the round in Saudi Arabia one week later.
There are currently no official plans to remove these events from the calendar.
However, the sport’s governing body maintains a history of altering schedules when faced with significant regional conflict or civil unrest.
Historical cancellations in Bahrain
The Bahrain International Circuit has previously been the centre of calendar controversy due to political instability.
Organisers were forced to postpone and eventually cancel the 2011 edition of the race amid widespread anti-government demonstrations.
Damon Hill, the 1996 world champion, was a vocal critic of the initial attempts to proceed with the event during the unrest.
“If Formula One agrees to race in Bahrain, it will forever have the blight of association with repressive methods to achieve order,” Hill said at the time.
“The right thing to do, in my view, is to not race in Bahrain until these doubts have been removed.”
Despite further appeals from human rights campaigners to remove the fixture the following year, the Grand Prix returned to the schedule in 2012.
Security protocols in Jeddah
The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, a more recent addition to the sport, has also faced security threats since its debut in 2021.
During the 2022 race weekend, Yemen’s Houthi rebel group targeted an oil facility located just over 10 miles from the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.
Max Verstappen, the current world champion, reported smelling smoke to his engineer Gianpiero Lambiase during a Friday practice session.
The Grand Prix Drivers’ Association held lengthy meetings regarding the incident but ultimately received assurances that allowed the race to continue.
Formula 1 officials will continue to assess the safety of all personnel as the championship prepares for its Middle Eastern leg in April.
