Formula One is expected to cancel the upcoming Bahrain and Saudi Arabia Grands Prix amid military action in the Middle East.
The races have been under scrutiny since a joint operation between the US and Israel began against Iran late last month, The Sun reports.
The military action and retaliatory strikes from Iran have rocked the region, and raised safety concerns for the thousands of fans set to travel to the races next month.
And now F1 chiefs are set to announce their decision in the next 48 hours.
Chief executive Stefano Domenicali and FIA boss Muhammed Ben Sulayem have been weighing up the threat to fans since the conflict’s outbreak, with F1 claiming at the time to be “monitoring the situation.”
The organisers are unable to further defer making their call, as critical equipment and the cars themselves would need to start their journey to the host venue by the middle of next week.
The races were due to take place consecutively on April 12 and 19, respectively.
But with both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia being caught in retaliatory strikes from Iran in recent weeks, officials were forced to make a decision on whether they could guarantee fans’ safety by that time.
The races being replaced on this year’s F1 calendar is considered unlikely despite Portugal’s Portimao and Italy’s Imola circuits having been touted as options.
Their omission would drop the calendar from 24 races to 22, leaving a five-week gap between the Japan (March 29) and the Miami race on May 3.
And that number could face further changes if conflict in the region continued deeper into the year.
F1 chiefs are reported to already be drafting up contingencies for other races set to be held in the affected area.
The final two races of the year, set to be held in Qatar and Abu Dhabi on November 29 and December 6 respectively, are both in areas that have come under fire since the conflict began.
The races are amongst the most lucrative Grands Prix on the calendar for Formula One.
The organisation is set to miss out on the massive fees from the nations, with Bahrain paying in the region of $78million for their event, and Saudi Arabia paying as much as $117million.
– This article first appeared in The Sun and was republished with permission
