Source : ABC NEWS
Formula 1 has cancelled its grand prix weekends in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, as war in the Middle East continues.
The Bahrain Grand Prix weekend was to be held from April 10-12, with the Saudi Arabia event to follow the next weekend.
Despite both race weekends still being a month away, freight would have needed to be shipped to the region in the coming days for the races.
Bahrain’s capital, Manama, has been hit by Iranian air strikes while Jeddah, the host city of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, was deemed risky.
With no signs of the conflict easing, F1 bosses made the decision to scrap what would have been rounds four and five of the championship.
The announcement was made this morning in Shanghai ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix, with no substitute races to be run in April.
Stefano Domenicali, President and CEO of Formula 1, said: “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.”
The BBC reported that the cancellation of both races would lead to F1 taking a commercial hit of around 100 million British pounds ($189 million), with Bahrain and Saudi Arabia having two of the highest hosting fees.
There will now be a five-week break in F1 between the Japanese Grand Prix on March 29, and the Miami Grand Prix on May 3.
F1 has decided not to replace these weekends, with the championship season being reduced from 24 rounds to 22.
The FIA, motorsport’s governing body, has already had to postpone one major race in the Middle East.
Qatar was supposed to host the opening event of the World Endurance Championship on the weekend of March 26-28. The 1,812km race will now be held in October.
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