Will F1 have to cancel the Bahrain Grand Prix after Iranian missile attacks?

This year’s Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix looks to be in doubt, as the Kingdom continues to come under attack from Iranian missiles and drones.

The developing conflict in the Middle East has already led to the World Endurance Championship postponing its season-opening round in neighbouring Qatar, which was scheduled for March 28.

Formula 1 is due to race at Bahrain’s Sakhir Circuit two weeks later on April 12, and has said that it is closely monitoring the situation, as is MotoGP, which is meant to be racing in Qatar on the same weekend.

Saudi Arabia has also come under attack and its Grand Prix, set for a week after the Bahrain race, is at risk too.

The situation is the most acute geopolitical crisis facing F1 since the series raced past a missile attack in Jeddah in 2022.

On March 3, Bahrain said that it had intercepted 73 Iranian missiles and 91 drones, launched in retaliation after the start of the US-Israeli military operation against Iran on February 28. Not all attacks were repelled, and several strikes have been reported, at a US navy base and high-rise buildings.

Qatar has also been targeted. It shot down two Iranian fighter jets on course for the capital Doha, where explosions have been reported.

“With the safety and security of competitors, personnel and fans of the utmost importance, the decision has been taken to delay the Qatar 1812km],” said WEC in a statement issued on Tuesday.

“I must stress that our primary thoughts are with the victims of this terrible conflict,” added Pierre Fillon, president of the ACO, which organises the championship. “At times like these, sporting interests are clearly secondary, which is why a decision has been quickly taken that the event cannot proceed at the present time.

US president Donald Trump has warned of a war that is expected to last four to five weeks but could “go far longer than that”.

With MotoGP and F1 due to race in the Middle East in six weeks’ time, both series face having to make an imminent decision on their plans.

Formula 1 has previously cancelled a Bahrain Grand Prix, in 2011 as a result of pro-democracy protests, and did so three weeks in advance of the event — a timescale that gives F1 less than three weeks to make a decision.

Iran conflict: the impact on motor sport so far

A Pirelli tyre test that had been scheduled to start at at Bahrain’s Sakhir circuit on February 28 but was immediately was cancelled after missile activity was reported in the country.

Pirelli confirmed all personnel in Manama were safe and being assisted in returning to Europe, but the scrapping of the test was the first tangible sign that several motor sport series had been affected.

The postponement of WEC’s season-opening Qatar 1812km race is the first major event to be disrupted.

However, the logistical disruption has already reached far beyond the Middle East.

Australian Grand Prix travel affected

Formula 1’s travelling operation, comprising roughly 2,000 team members and organisational staff, was thrown into disarray following the closure of major aviation hubs in the Gulf.

Many F1 workers were forced to hastily revise travel arrangements as they attempted to reach Albert Park for the championship’s opening race.

With Doha and Dubai airports shut following Iranian bombing of facilities across Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and the UAE, F1 travellers were redirected onto alternative services through Hong Kong and Singapore, while others opted for Qantas flights into Perth and an internal connection of approximately three and a half hours to Melbourne.

F1 issued a statement pointing out that its next three races are in Australia, China and Japan and that those Grands Prix are not for a number of weeks.

“As always we closely monitor any situation like this and work closely with relevant authorities in the region,” a spokesperson said.

The races under threat

The Bahrain Grand Prix is scheduled for April 10-12 , with the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix following a week later on April 17-19 at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.

That gives F1 six weeks from the start of the conflict, a window that might ordinarily seem comfortable, but which looks precarious given the speed with which the regional situation deteriorated.

Bahrain confirmed that a missile attack targeted the headquarters of the US Navy’s 5th Fleet in Manama. This is the same city – and in some respects the same neighbourhood – where F1 races every April.

The Bahrain International Circuit sits in Sakhir, roughly 30 kilometres south of Manama, but the circuit’s proximity to US military infrastructure makes it a potentially sensitive site in any prolonged conflict scenario.

Saudi Arabia’s exposure is no less significant.

The Saudi foreign ministry confirmed that Iran targeted Riyadh and the Eastern Province, and stated it had intercepted all Iranian attacks aimed at its territory, warning it would “take all necessary measures” to defend itself.

During the 2022 Saudi Arabian GP weekend, a Houthi strike hit an Aramco oil facility, an incident that brought F1 to the brink of abandonment.

The airspace problem

Even if hostilities were to cease imminently, the practical consequences for F1 logistics would linger.

As of Monday, Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria and the UAE were among the nations that had announced at least partial closures of their skies, forcing widespread flight suspensions, cancellations and diversions and leaving tens of thousands of passengers stranded globally.

According to Flightradar24, Iran’s total airspace closure had been extended to at least 3 March, with Saudi Arabia operating a partial closure affecting areas bordering Iraq and the Persian Gulf.

On Sunday, some carriers were already beginning to reposition aircraft back to their Gulf hubs – Etihad was returning planes to Abu Dhabi within 24 hours of the initial disruptions – suggesting the UAE end of the airspace picture may stabilise relatively quickly.

Saudi Arabia and Bahrain remained more uncertain.

For F1, which moves a small city’s worth of equipment from race to race, the freight dimension is critical.

Teams routinely ship equipment through Dubai, whose airport handles some of the heaviest freight volumes in the world.

Dubai International confirmed the suspension of all flight operations until further notice following the conflict, with Emirates temporarily halting all operations.

If those closures persist or recur, the logistics of getting cars and equipment into Sakhir for a 10 April race start could become very complex.

F1’s dilemma: money, safety and precedent

The commercial stakes, as usual in situations like this, are enormous.

The Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix are integral parts of a 24-race calendar that F1 has invested heavily in building.

Neither Bahrain nor Saudi Arabia would accept cancellation lightly, and F1’s contractual obligations to both are substantial.

But the championship has been here before, and the lesson of Jeddah 2022, where racing continued despite drivers being able to see the smoke from a Houthi missile strike on a nearby oil facility, is that F1’s threshold for pulling the plug is higher than some in the paddock would like.

That race was held; the 2022 Russian Grand Prix, by contrast, was cancelled following the invasion of Ukraine.

The distinction F1 drew on that occasion – between a conflict in which a host nation was the aggressor, versus one in which a host nation was merely caught in regional crossfire – may be tested again here.

The Australian Grand Prix Corporation said that Melbourne will proceed as scheduled.