F1's teams understand they will learn in mid-October whether the season-ending races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi will take place as scheduled. The 2026's season is due to finish with a back-to-back races in Qatar (November 27-29) and Abu Dhabi (December 4-6) but those events have appeared uncertain for a number of months owing to the conflict this year in the Middle East, which started in February. The two events remain on the calendar, with currently runs to 23 races, with Sky Sports News understanding that the intention remains for them to take place. Italy's Imola circuit is thought to be the contingency option to close the season if it is deemed that the Middle Eastern rounds cannot go ahead, with F1 able to wait longer before a final decision is taken.
An F1 Commission meeting took pace on Monday and, speaking in Thursday's press conference at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, team chiefs said they had been given clarity on when a decision would be taken by. Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu said: "I believe that Stefano [Domenicali, F1's president] is targeting to tell us in mid-October so we all know what the situation is. "I believe that Imola is getting ready in case we have to do it [there].
"But hopefully things can stay as a baseline and we can go to Qatar and Abu Dhabi. That'd be really good." Audi counterpart Mattia Binotto added: "We discussed it during the F1 Commission last Monday. Mid-October is the last call for such a decision." Sky Sports' F1 correspondent Craig Slater: "The latest information I have from leadership sources at Formula 1 itself is that they are both on the calendar, the intention is to go.
"I have been informed that, as things stand in terms of the level of stability in the region, should those events have been happening in the next couple of weeks, it would be stable enough for them to go ahead. The situation would be that unless there is a deterioration again then those races would be going ahead. "There is a contingency of Imola but they do not have to commit to that to the exclusion of those last two races.
So Imola will be a contingency situation if they can't run the last two races, but they will compensate Imola for any financial loss they make in getting ready for that. "Mid-October is the teams' understanding that they will get some kind of clarification on that matter, so we will have to watch this space to a degree." Speaking in Baku on Wednesday, Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton said he hoped the sport was able to return to the Middle East as scheduled at the end of November, "I personally want to go. I love going to the Middle East," said Hamilton.
"From what I've read, I think things seem OK out there. But I don't have all the information so I don't know what the risk levels are. But I trust in Stefano to make the right decision for the sport, but I do hope that we get to go there.
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