Bahrain GP expected to be cancelled due to Iran war

• Decision on F1 race before end of March
• Bahrain has been hit by missiles
• Suffering severe aviation disruption

A decision on whether this year’s Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix will proceed is expected before the end of March, but many analysts say the event will be cancelled because of the conflict in the Gulf.

Officials from Formula 1 and the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile are due to meet on March 20 to determine whether the race, scheduled to run on April 12, can go ahead, according to a person familiar with the discussions.

“Safety and wellbeing will guide our decisions,” Emirati Mohammed Ben Sulayem, who heads the governing FIA, said in a statement.

Bahrain has been hit particularly hard since hostilities began on February 28. Iranian-backed attacks on the kingdom have so far killed two people and caused significant infrastructure damage in the capital Manama.

The Bahrain Defence Force General Command said on Wednesday it had intercepted and destroyed 105 ballistic missiles and 176 drones over the period, according to the state-run news agency.

“As things stand, it’s difficult to see the race taking place given Bahrain’s geographic exposure,” said Simon Chadwick, professor of AfroEurasian sport at Emlyon Business School and AGBI columnist.

Bahrain International Airport, which came under attack in the early days of the conflict, has also remained closed, posing a logistical problem not only for the thousands of spectators but for F1 teams and their entourage, who will be making their way from Japan to the Gulf.

“F1 is a huge logistical exercise to begin with and there will be no guarantee that you’ll be able to move the cars and everything that goes with them from one part of the world,” said Kieran Maguire, a UK sports economist.

Bahrain International Circuit has been approached for comment.

Bahrain, which promotes itself as the Middle East’s motorsport hub, was the first country in the region to stage a Formula 1 race when it hosted the inaugural event in 2004.

The country pays about $52 million per year to Formula 1 for the right to host the race, according to Racing News 365, with the contract running until 2036, making it one of the longest deals on the F1 calendar.

The Hermann Tilke-designed circuit is located in the Sakhir desert, about 30 kilometres southwest of the capital.

The track has a capacity of around 70,000 spectators and in February, at the official launch of this year’s event Bahrain International Circuit, chief executive Shaikh Salman bin Isa Al Khalifa revealed that the Turn 1 Grandstand was sold out and the main grandstand 98 percent sold. Corporate lounges and the Champions Club also sold out.

Sheikh Salman previously said the annual event, which was cancelled once before during the Arab Spring of 2011, generates an estimated $100 million for the kingdom.

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The Saudi Arabia Grand Prix in Jeddah, due to be held the week after Bahrain in April, is also in doubt, although Chadwick is more optimistic over it going ahead.

“Jeddah is a somewhat different matter. The race is later in April, the track is much further away from Iran than Bahrain, and for the Iranians to attack and embarrass Saudi Arabia would carry much greater consequences,” he said.

Authorities in Saudi Arabia have been contacted by AGBI for comment.

The Gulf is also home to the Qatar and Abu Dhabi Grands Prix, which are held towards the end of the F1 calendar. Both are going ahead as planned according to spokespeople.

Should Bahrain and Saudi Arabia be cancelled it is understood there would be no replacements found and the season would be reduced to 22 races, according to Sky News.