If war risk premiums become unaffordable, or cover gets pulled entirely, the decision essentially makes itself, regardless of what F1 or the FIA want.
Sometimes the most pragmatic force in the room ends up doing what principle alone couldn't.
6/6
Now there's an active regional conflict, Iranian missiles have landed close to the Bahrain circuit, airspace across the Gulf has been closed, and the situation isn't showing signs of calming down. That's a very different risk profile for insurers, both for assets and for people.
5/6
Teams ship hundreds of millions in cars, parts, infrastructure, and hospitality setups to every race. Every team also carries liability and personal insurance for hundreds of staff, drivers, media, and contractors on the ground. Insurers were already uneasy after Jeddah in '22.
4/6
What might actually force the decision is something more practical: Insurance.
3/6
That set a pretty clear precedent for how F1 handles these situations.
So while there's understandable debate about whether the Bahrain and Saudi GPs should go ahead, history suggests that ethical concerns and even safety worries alone probably won't be what tips the balance.
2/6
In 2022, a missile hit an Aramco facility close enough to the Jeddah circuit that drivers could see smoke from the cockpit during FP1. There was a tense crisis meeting, several drivers expressed serious concerns about safety, and ultimately the decision was made to race anyway.
1/6
Airspace closures and shipping lane disruptions are already causing logistical problems.
The FIA, F1, and other series will need to make decisions very soon on how to respond.
5/5
- Bahrain GP: six weeks away, with the Saudi Arabian GP the following week
- Qatar and Abu Dhabi GPs: late November and early December
- WEC: Qatar in March, Bahrain in November
- MotoGP: Qatar in April
4/5
Mercedes, currently in Bahrain for testing, has had to cancel its programme and is now working to get staff and equipment back to the UK.
All five countries are scheduled to host major motorsport events this season:
3/5
Strikes have been confirmed in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi, with missile fragments also falling in Qatar. Several of these strikes occurred in or near areas where team personnel typically stay during race weeks.
2/5
Beyond the geopolitical crisis and the risk of a wider conflict in the Middle East, today's strikes on Iran and the retaliatory strikes that followed will have a direct impact on motorsport.
1/5
The exits include INDYCAR (Prema), WEC (Prema, Iron Dames), Le Mans (Prema, Iron Dames), IMSA (Prema, Iron Dames) and ELMS (Iron Dames).
Prema remains listed in F2, F3, F4, and some regional series, though they will be more dependent on driver funding than they have been in the past.
2/2
On the eve of the INDYCAR season, we have confirmation that Prema will not be on the grid, at least to start the year.
It is another blow for their cash-strapped parent company, DC Racing Solutions, which has been forced to withdraw from several series due to financial difficulties.
1/2
Preseason testing is a separate deal, usually on a year by year deal.
16.02.2026 18:12 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0The alternative would probably be both races dropping off the calendar completely
16.02.2026 18:11 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
Barcelona confirmed for 2028, 2030 & 2032 under new alternating F1 calendar deal.
The GP will be every other year starting in '28.
The IOC permits Russian flag stickers, Russian flags in stands, and Russian athletes competing as "neutrals."
But a Ukrainian honouring his fallen countrymen? Disqualified.
The helmet was fine in training. Fine in the mixed zone. Just not for 57 seconds of competition.
Absolutely disgraceful.
Aaaaand someone already lifted the photos and put them in a Reddit post 😂
www.reddit.com/r/formula1/c...
At the risk of jinxing it again, it's unlikely 😅
Barcelona isn't on the WEC calendar this year, and teams prefer to do their testing on circuits they race on, to correlate the data.
As far as I know, there are also no upcoming WEC tests in Europe, at least until March.
Turns out it was an Aston Martin flight after all!
Aviation Photographer @sgouldphotography.bsky.social was on site, and got some shots of a suspiciously F1-car shaped box carrying AMR markings being loaded.
Appreciate it!
28.01.2026 17:26 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Well, that's fairly conclusive. Very interesting that they chartered an old Antonov 😅
Can I use these photos? And are you on other platforms so I can credit you properly?
Aston Martin has a partnership with Atlas Air for freight needs, and F1's official contract is with DHL. They'd likely use these partners if air freight was needed.
Most likely scenario: It was shipped in AMR team trucks - Standard procedure for European.
No need for obscure cargo aircraft.
2/2
Re. the rumours that the AMR26 is being transported to Spain on Cavok Air CVK7020 (A 54 year old Antonov 12BP).
This is unconfirmed and unlikely.
1/2 🧵
Sources have confirmed that Williams have scrapped their in-person factory launch in favour of an online-only livery reveal.
The reveal will happen on February 3rd.
A quick note about the timing feeds: They were never meant to be public for the shakedown.
A technical oversight caused them to be available, and the issue was addressed as the morning session ended.
No more timing updates from the Barcelona shakedown.
F1 has cut off the data feeds.
Unfortunately we don't get that information for the shakedown.
26.01.2026 12:53 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
Hadjar, Red Bull: 44 laps, 1:18.835
Antonelli, Mercedes: 56 laps, 1:20.700
Colapinto, Alpine: 28 laps, 1:21.348
Lawson, VCARB: 42 laps, 1:21.864
Ocon, Haas: 67 laps, 1:24.520
Bottas, Cadillac: 33 laps, 1:24.651
Bortoleto, Audi: 27 laps, 1:25.296
2/2
Red flag as Lawson is stopped on track.
These are the lap counts and fastest times after 4 hours of Day 1:
1/2 🧵
