Formula 1 schedules 2027 season-opening race in Bahrain in March despite Middle East uncertainty

Formula 1 plans to open the 2027 season in Bahrain even as uncertainty remains over this year’s races in the Middle East.

F1 released a 24-race schedule for 2027 on Wednesday starting with the Bahrain Grand Prix on March 14 and then Saudi Arabia a week later, with events also scheduled for Qatar and Abu Dhabi at the end of the year. All have long-term contracts to host F1 and Bahrain also hosts preseason testing in February.

Races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia were called off this year due to the Iran war . An extra race in Malaysia next month will have Bahrain Grand Prix branding.

The Qatar Grand Prix on Nov. 29 and the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Dec. 6 remain on the schedule. F1 has considered a change to Europe if they can't go ahead but tickets remain on sale for both races.

Bahrain has opened most F1 seasons in recent years and was only moved from that position in 2025 and 2026 because of a clash with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Next year’s schedule avoids clashes with two other auto racing highlights, the Indianapolis 500 on May 30 and the Le Mans 24-hour race on June 12-13. F1 scheduled races on the same days as both this year. Four-time F1 champion Max Verstappen has said he wants to race at Le Mans in future.

F1 is also expanding from six to 10 sprint races in 2027, including a first at the Monaco Grand Prix, where overtaking is almost impossible.

A sprint is also scheduled for the season-opening race in Bahrain. That would mark the first time an F1 season has begun with a short-format race before the first Grand Prix of the year.

F1 said race weekends that featured sprint races attracted an average viewership that was 12% higher than those without sprints. By increasing their number, F1 is “giving our fans even more intensity, drama, and the wheel-to-wheel action that make our sport so special,” chief executive Stefano Domenicali said.

F1 returns to Portugal in June for the first time since 2021 as the Portimao circuit replaces the Dutch Grand Prix, while the Turkish Grand Prix is also back in October 2027 after signing a five-year contract in April.

There will be no race at the Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona for the first time since 1990. It lost the title of Spanish Grand Prix to Madrid this year but stayed on under Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix branding. It will now alternate with the Belgian Grand Prix and next returns in 2028.

There was no indication Wednesday that F1 is any closer to calling off or moving the Qatar or Abu Dhabi races.

Among potential alternatives in Europe, a season-ending race at Italy’s Imola circuit is widely considered the likeliest option. Domenicali indicated in July that a decision could come in mid-September.

The races in the Middle East are especially valuable for F1 and its teams. They contribute large hosting fees to F1, while Saudi Arabia's state-owned oil giant Aramco and Qatar Airways are major sponsors for the series.

Next week's Azerbaijan Grand Prix will be the closest F1 has been to Iran since the outbreak of the war earlier this year. Azerbaijan shares a land border with Iran.

FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem defended the wait for confirmation on this year’s races in an interview this month with The Associated Press , arguing F1 was right not to “jump the gun” on deciding.

“Are we going to allow our people, our staff, the drivers or the teams to go at risk? No, of course not. We will not,” he added.

Speculation over possible changes to this year’s Qatar and Abu Dhabi races heightened this week as Formula 2, which is due to support F1 in both venues, added an extra race to its schedule next week in Azerbaijan. F2 said it would still race in Qatar and Abu Dhabi with a “usual weekend format.”

See AP’s full auto racing coverage here