Overview
- After meetings in Melbourne, series leaders set no deadline for a decision on the April 12 Bahrain and April 19 Saudi Arabia rounds, according to team executive Peter Bayer.
- FIA president Mohammed ben Sulayem said driver and team safety remains the priority as organizers continue to monitor the situation in the region.
- Reporting notes a strike near a U.S. base roughly 20 miles from Bahrain’s Sakhir circuit and wider missile and drone activity across Gulf states tied to the U.S.–Iran conflict.
- Contingencies discussed include possible stand‑in venues or leaving April without races, but freight timelines give organizers only a short window before shipments would head to the Middle East.
- The Bahrain and Jeddah events are among F1’s most lucrative, with reporting valuing the pair at about £100m to the series, and the FIA has already postponed the WEC season opener in Qatar.