The 2026 Formula 1 schedule has lurched into damage-control mode. With both the Bahrain Grand Prix and the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix struck off the calendar in the wake of the Middle East conflict, FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem is shopping a replacement — and the front of the queue is no longer in the Gulf at all.
Speaking after the Miami weekend, Ben Sulayem confirmed Turkey's Istanbul Park is the leading candidate, conditional on the circuit completing its Grade 1 homologation work. "If not, then maybe we could have Turkey this year if it finishes its homologation, and the rest of their needs," the FIA boss said.
The puzzle is logistical. Bahrain and Saudi Arabia historically anchor a regional triple-header that includes Qatar, and any replacement requires re-papering freight slots, broadcast windows and ticketing windows that promoters have built around. Ben Sulayem's preferred work-around is a softer one. "Around Qatar, you could delay one week, push everything," he said, suggesting the existing Gulf footprint could be stretched rather than torn up.
He also pointed to the FIA's reliance on the commercial side of the sport. "Logistically, [it's a case of] what's the best scenario? We're consulting with the promoters." Promoters control much of the executable calendar — venue contracts, government sign-offs, ticketing portals — and their willingness to accept an extra date or a shifted weekend will define whether Turkey actually makes it on the schedule for 2026.
Istanbul Park is no stranger to F1's emergency calendar. The Turkish circuit hosted the 2020 and 2021 races during the pandemic, and Lewis Hamilton secured his seventh world championship there in the rain in 2020. The track lost its Grade 1 status during a stalled resurfacing programme, but bringing the homologation back to F1-ready standard is technically achievable inside a few months — provided the budget appears.
Liberty Media has already absorbed the financial implications of the cancellations into its public guidance. Q1 2026 results, posted earlier this week, showed F1 revenue still rising 53% to $617 million even before the Middle East impact lands; CEO Derek Chang flagged the issue directly in the filing.
"The well-being of everyone in F1 comes first, and we always manage the calendar with that principle in mind. While that creates a near term financial impact, it does not change our confidence in the long-term trajectory of the support."
The other live option is a second 2026 round at Silverstone, after British GP promoter Stuart Pringle volunteered the venue earlier this week with the line that everything is movable in a crisis. But Silverstone's calendar already carries the British round, and a return for Istanbul Park would carry symbolic weight that another UK date cannot match.
If Turkey gets the green light, the closing months of 2026 will deliver the most compressed F1 run-in since the pandemic-era rebuilds — and Ben Sulayem is treating the disruption, for now, as an opening rather than a problem.
