Formula 1 has canceled races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia scheduled for April, as the ongoing war between Iran and the U.S. and Israel disrupts international sports throughout the Middle East.
“Due to the ongoing situation in the Middle East the Grands Prix, alongside F2, F3, and F1 Academy rounds, will not take place as scheduled,” Formula 1 said in a post on X.
The grands prix, marquee events at the top of the F1 calendar, were scheduled to be the fourth and fifth races of the season, which kicked off during the first weekend of March in Melbourne. Last year, both were won by Australian driver Oscar Piastri, who rode a strong start in the campaign to a third-place finish in the F1 season standings.
Iran targeted both Gulf countries in the early days of the conflict in a retaliatory campaign that saw Tehran take shots at Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Iraq, Jordan, Turkey, Cyprus and Israel. On Friday, NATO defense systems in the eastern Mediterranean shot down a missile about to breach Turkish airspace.
It isn’t the first global sporting event interrupted by Middle Eastern hostilities since President Donald Trump and Israel launched their attack on Iran in February, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The Fanatics Flag Football Classic, an exhibition matchup featuring NFL legend Tom Brady and athletes including Joe Burrow, Jalen Hurts and Myles Garrett, was moved from Saudi Arabia to Los Angeles this week.
The Iranian national team, meanwhile, is unlikely to make the trip to North America for this summer’s World Cup, hosted jointly by the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
Trump said he doesn’t “believe it is appropriate that they be there, for their own life and safety,” in a Thursday Truth Social post that came after Tehran’s sports minister cast doubt on his country’s participation in the event.
