The cancellation was expected as the war became more ferocious, and it would cost Formula 1 alone more than $150 million.
The roar of Formula 1 car engines will not be heard in the Middle East this spring, as the war has cast its dark shadows on many activities, especially sports ones, including the date of speed races that attract millions of people to follow them.
The cancellation was expected as the ferocity of the war intensified and Iran targeted American interests in some Gulf countries, including Bahrain, where the US Fifth Fleet is based. The result is that the fastest and most organized season in the world has been put to the test of war in the Middle East.
Emirati FIA President Mohammed Bin Sulayem says that the FIA “will always put the safety and well-being of our community first. After careful evaluation, we have made this decision based on this responsibility.”
The current season will be reduced to 22 races initially, and canceling the two Gulf races will create a large time gap estimated at about five weeks between the Japanese races and the American Miami Grand Prix, which has forced the teams to reschedule their car improvement priorities before resuming competition.
Safety first
Bahrain’s Sakhir Circuit was supposed to host the race between April 10 and 12, followed by Saudi Arabia in Jeddah Circuit the following week. But missiles, drones, and direct threats to the American bases adjacent to the tracks made any race impossible. Teams’ equipment has been stuck since pre-season testing, and sending any additional equipment is an unacceptable risk.
Formula 1 is not just cars on the track, but rather a huge system that includes thousands of individuals, hundreds of tons of equipment, and a global aviation network. The disruption of the atmosphere in the Gulf revealed the fragility of this sport in the face of geopolitical conflicts, in addition to incurring this type of sport huge losses amounting to about half a billion dollars.
Canceling the two races will cost Formula 1 alone more than $150 million in hosting fees, as Bahrain and Saudi Arabia were paying the highest fees of the season, in the tens of millions for each race.
The impact extends to the host cities, where the hotel, restaurant, transportation, ticket and tourism sectors lose seasonal profits. In Bahrain, each racing week generates around $100 million, with a cumulative impact since 2004 exceeding $1.3 billion.
Over the past two decades, the Gulf region has become the cornerstone of Category 1 racing in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE. Races there are not just sporting competitions, but rather strategic tools for countries seeking to promote tourism and build a modern global image. Canceling two races represents a double economic and media loss, with a global audience anticipating the event.
The cancellation of the two races also revealed the fragility of the sport in the face of conflicts, as the Middle East represents a central node in the air transport network, and therefore any security escalation hinders the movement of teams and affects other tournaments, from football to tennis and golf. Logistical and investment structures are also disrupted, and global events are halted with them.
The International Federation was looking for alternatives, such as holding the races in Portugal, Italy, or Turkey, but organizing these races in a short time faces extreme difficulty and time constraints in terms of marketing, and thus there are great challenges in achieving the required revenues.
The current season will last for 22 races, and the gap between Japan and Miami provides teams with an opportunity to make improvements to the cars and evaluate the performance of the new engines before returning to competition. The disruption of two races in the heart of the season opens the way for major teams such as Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull to rearrange their cards, but in return, it reduces the chances of drivers to score decisive points that may determine the season title.
Even the fastest sport in the world cannot escape the consequences of war, politics and geography. The awaited circuits turned into silence awaiting the return of stability, while teams, drivers, and fans watched the future of a confused and unpredictable season.