The WEC Middle East calendar change that could lead to an F1 shift

The World Endurance Championship is set to cancel races in Qatar and Bahrain as the conflict in the Middle East continues, raising questions about Formula 1's end-of-year schedule.

The WEC calendar has already undergone changes this term, with the Qatar round shifted from its position as the season opener to become the penultimate round in October. In a contingency plan presented to teams last weekend in Brazil, the round will now be removed entirely, with a race added in Barcelona instead. The Bahrain season finale will similarly be axed in favour of a Monza weekend. 

These changes are expected to be presented to the World Motor Sport Council at a meeting in late July, assuming that there is no significant change in the security of the region.

The F1 calendar has been similarly affected this term, with events in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia being cancelled earlier in the year, creating an unexpected month-long break between the Japanese and Miami rounds.

As per the current schedule, the season will conclude with weekends in Qatar and Abu Dhabi. Crash.net understands that both events remain on at the present time, given the length of time remaining before the scheduled late-November and early-December dates. There is similarly no concern surrounding September's Azerbaijan race, despite the country neighbouring Iran.

F1 CEO and president Stefano Domenicali recently confirmed that the championship hopes to reinstate Bahrain back onto the 2026 calendar, with the proposed date understood to be 4 October, which would create a run of three consecutive triple-headers - Bahrain slotting between Azerbaijan and Singapore.

However, Crash.net can confirm that the Bahrain weekend remains off for the time being, but the championship is giving things the maximum possible amount of time for things to calm down, before making a final decision. 

Should Bahrain fail to be reinstated, and Qatar and Abu Dhabi also drop from the schedule, one contingency plan could see the Portuguese Grand Prix become the season finale, bumping the calendar back up to 21 races - three short of the original tally.