Formula 1 opted to cancel the races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia that were scheduled for this April, due to the war in the Middle East, but the financial impact is already worrying the teams in the category. Racing Bulls’ chief, Alan Permane, stated that there is hope to reschedule these races, although he acknowledges growing logistical and economic difficulties.
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According to Permane, the category is closely monitoring the situation and expects that at least one of the races could return to the calendar still in 2026. However, he emphasized that any decision depends directly on the stabilization of the situation in the Middle East.
“We are monitoring the situation and are very hopeful that there is a possibility to reschedule one or both races later this year,” said the executive. “We don’t know anything yet. Obviously, until the situation in the Middle East calms down, this will not happen. If it does, we could have a very busy end of the season.”
The possibility of these races returning in 2026 gained strength amid pressure, especially from Saudi Arabia, to find space in the calendar. There is also the prospect that the stage in Jeddah could be moved to December, which would increase logistical complexity at the end of the season.
Even with this chance of rescheduling, Permane highlighted that the cancellations already bring significant financial consequences for the teams. The absence of two races reduces the overall revenue of the category and, consequently, the distribution allocated to the teams.
“The cancellation of two GPs has a significant impact on the teams’ budgets. On one hand, if these races do not happen, the teams save money because it will not be necessary to send personnel. There will be no expenses with flights, hotels, or cargo transport. However, the overall balance will still be negative, and that is bad news,” he said.
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Reports indicate that the absence of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabia stages, considered among the most profitable of the season, could remove about 100 million euros from Formula 1’s total revenue this year. Since approximately half of this amount is distributed among the teams, the loss could reach millions for each of them.
Furthermore, the scenario is worsened by the increase in fuel costs, also related to the conflict in the Middle East. Permane stated that, although there are no concrete numbers yet, the trend is for expenses to grow throughout the season.
“We haven’t seen specific numbers yet, but later in the season the teams’ costs will inevitably increase due to fuel prices. Costs have already risen and the same should happen with air transport,” he added.
According to Permane, this increase will have a direct impact on the teams, since all these expenses are included in Formula 1’s budget cap.
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