Formula 1 confirmed the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Grands Prix citing the impacts of the ongoing regional conflict. Bahrain was scheduled for 12 April with the Saudi race in Jeddah on 19 April.
The decision, announced by the sport’s governing body, the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), was reached after considering several alternatives.
“While this was a difficult decision to take, it is unfortunately the right one at this stage considering the current situation in the Middle East,” F1 president and CEO Stefano Domenicali said.
Financial Impact
The two legs, across Manama and Riyadh, are forecast to be a significant loss for Formula 1, owned by the Liberty Media Organisation.
Guggenheim expects MotoGP’s Qatar Grand Prix to also be cancelled. The firm estimates the F1 cancellations will result in approximately $190M in lost revenue and roughly $80M in lost EBITDA, representing about 8% of the company’s $997M in trailing twelve-month EBITDA.
The cancellations now extend the gap between the Japanese Grand Prix, scheduled for 29 March and the Miami Grand Prix on 3 May.
April will now be an empty month for the series and the championship reduced to 22 rounds.
The GCC remains home to other significant races; Doha in November and Abu Dhabi in December.
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