Formula One bosses are expected to call off the Bahrain and Saudi Arabia Grands Prix in the next 48 hours in response to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
Daily Mail Sport understands the cars and other critical freight to the Gulf must start their transportation in the middle of next week – presenting a hard deadline for a decision.
F1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali and FIA boss Muhammed Ben Sulayem will make the determination based on safety concerns for F1’s 3,000-strong travelling contingent.
They are in close talks with both venue organisers, with whom they have strong relations, to see how to settle the sensitive predicament on which not only millions of pounds rest, but potentially lives too.
Bahrain, pioneers of F1 in the region, pay up to £40million to host their event, while the Saudi GP is an even bigger contributor to the sport’s purse at some £60m a year – the most lucrative destination on the existing 24-race calendar, along with Qatar.
Lewis Hamilton is confident the right call is going to be made on the Bahrain and Saudi races
Explosions rock a Bahrain oil facility as Iranian missiles target energy infrastructure last week
The Saudis also contribute their state-owned Aramco oil sponsorship, a partnership worth approximately £40m per season. That arrangement, it seems, will be unaffected by the almost-certain cancellations.
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton said: ‘I know Stefano will do what is right for us and the sport. He is a great leader.’
The two races are unlikely to be replaced, in contrast to the scramble during the Covid lockdown of 2020 when F1’s top brass successfully sought to piece together a reworked schedule to meet the obligations of their TV rights’ deals and to keep the sport afloat.
Domenicali and Ben Sulayem are also drawing up contingencies for Qatar and Abu Dhabi, the concluding two rounds at the end of November and start of December that may be critical to the championship’s outcome.
‘Those races are a long way off,’ said one source within F1 Management. ‘We have options but it is far too early to contemplate those events being pulled.’