Oil company Aramco failed to prevent the stage from being canceled in Saudi Arabia // Photo: skysports.com .
An official announcement on the cancellation of the stages is expected by the evening of March 15. The stage in the desert Sakhir (Bahrain) was to be held on April 12, and in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) – April 19. At the same time, the management of “Formula 1” does not intend to replace the canceled stages.
High level of risk
Several Reuters sources at the FIA and Formula One Management (FOM), the company that manages the race, have told Reuters that shipments to Bahrain, where the first Middle East round is due to take place, have not yet been made due to a logistical collapse in the region, although the deadline is March 20.
The FIA and FOM said that the ongoing military conflict entails a lot of risks. First of all, there is a high risk of teams being stranded at the end of races.
The decision to cancel the stages, in particular, contributed to the situation with members of the teams “Pirelli” (the exclusive supplier of tires for cars “Formula 1 ” – note. aut.), “Mercedes” and “McLaren”, stuck in Bahrain because of the closure of the airspace on February 28. On the island, on which the Grand Prix stage has been held annually since 2004 (it was not held only in 2011), tire tests were to be held. The tense situation in the Gulf region forced them to cancel. In order to “evacuate” teams of specialists in an emergency order, the FIA and FOM needed to order two charter flights to the first Grand Prix round of the season. It was held in Australia from March 6 to 8.
Risks are more expensive than financial losses
A total of $132 million has been allocated for the two stages. $72 million is allocated for the stage in Bahrain and $60 million for the stage in Saudi Arabia. The vast majority of this amount has already been spent, but the organizers are concerned, first of all, about the fact of cancellation, which provides for the imposition of penalties.
Especially painfully the cancellation of the stages will affect two teams. “McLaren” actually owns the stage in Bahrain, and “Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team” – in Saudi Arabia, as its title sponsor is the Saudi American oil company “Aramco”. Saudi Arabia is not interested in canceling the round, which was first included in the Formula 1 calendar only in 2021.
There are no more places
The rescheduling of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian rounds to other dates is not possible this year. The Formula 1 calendar is very tight – it consists of 24 rounds, the preparation of each of which is a very painstaking endeavor. In these conditions, even the lobby of title sponsors will not allow to find in the season as many as two “windows” between the remaining stages. Thus, the organizers decided to shorten the season to 22 stages to avoid risks,
There is one more Grand Prix round in the region – in Qatar. It is scheduled to take place at the Lusail circuit from November 27 to 29, and the organizers of the stage, for which $55 million has been allocated, are counting on the fact that by then nothing will threaten its holding.
