Formula 1 announced on Saturday afternoon (March 14) that the Bahrain Grand Prix scheduled for April 12 and the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix scheduled for April 19 have been canceled due to the ongoing tensions in the Middle East.
The two events would have been the fourth and fifth races of the F1 season, but they are now off the schedule, alongside of the F2, F3 and F1 Academy rounds that were also slated to take place on those race weekends.
F1 considered alternative events to replace the two canceled dates, but nothing was able to come together. So there will be no replacement races added in the month of April.
The 2026 F1 season will now have a break over a month long between the third race of the season in Japan on March 29 and the fourth race scheduled in Miami on May 3.
Michael Bellifemini joined Frontstretch in February 2026 as a contributor. Bellifemini was born and raised in New Jersey and graduated from Seton Hall University. He called Seton Hall men's and women's basketball games for their college radio station, 89.5 FM WSOU, and continues to broadcast in the area. Outside of covering NASCAR, Bellifemini is also an avid baseball, football, basketball, and hockey fan and enjoys watching different sports leagues on a daily basis.