F1 plans 2 Middle East races to close 2026 season

Formula 1 intends to keep two Middle East races as the final rounds of its 2026 season, Prokerala reported in an Oct. 15 news report citing ESPN.

The Oct. 15 news report said F1 has six races left in 2026, making Qatar and Abu Dhabi one-third of the remaining calendar and two of the final three rounds after Las Vegas.

F1 Chief Executive Stefano Domenicali said during the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia that the closing two rounds had not changed. "Yes, as we've already said, the calendar is confirmed: the last two Grands Prix will be in Qatar and Abu Dhabi."

"This is the direction we've taken based on the information and reassurances we have -- and which we absolutely must have, of course. It's the strategy we'll apply until the end of the year," Domenicali said, according to the report.

The Qatar and Abu Dhabi races are also the two remaining Middle East rounds identified in the report after two earlier regional fixtures were altered. F1 cancelled the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in April during the war in the Middle East, while the Bahrain Grand Prix was moved to Malaysia earlier in October, according to Prokerala.

The status of the Qatar and Abu Dhabi races had drawn attention after Audi team principal Mattia Binotto said in Baku on Sept. 24 that a decision point was approaching. "As we discussed during the F1 Commission last Monday, mid-October is the last call for such a decision," Binotto said.

Prokerala reported that ESPN said F1 had been in contact with authorities in both countries and that plans remained unchanged as of Oct. 15. The report also said Italy's Imola had been preparing grandstands as a contingency option if the two Middle East races were dropped, in which case one race would replace two.

The Qatar and Abu Dhabi races remain on the calendar unless F1 says otherwise.

Source: news report, Prokerala, Oct. 15