F1 Drops Imola Backup Plan as Qatar and Abu Dhabi Are Set to Close the 2026 Season

Formula 1's emergency exit is closed. F1 told the Imola circuit on Tuesday, Nov. 10, that it will not be needed for a backup finale, and told teams that the Qatar and Abu Dhabi rounds will go ahead as placed (opens in a new tab), according to PlanetF1. The 2026 season will end the way the calendar always said it would: Lusail on Sunday, Nov. 29, and Yas Marina on Sunday, Dec. 6.

"We cannot let Imola wait indefinitely," an F1 spokesperson said, according to Grande Premio (opens in a new tab). Neither F1 nor the circuit announced the decision publicly. A person with knowledge of the situation confirmed it to the Associated Press (opens in a new tab).

Why Imola was waiting

The Middle East finale has carried a question mark since March, when F1 called off the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix because of the conflict in the region. Saudi Arabia was canceled outright. Bahrain's race was later moved to Sepang, where Max Verstappen won the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia.

With Qatar and Abu Dhabi still in doubt, Imola became the insurance policy. The plan was a race there on Dec. 6 if the Gulf rounds fell through, and F1 agreed to pay for it, a bill The Race estimated at $10 million to $15 million, along with early preparation work at the track.

There was a storyline waiting in Italy, too. Imola sits near Bologna, the hometown of Kimi Antonelli, Italy's first world champion in 73 years, as the AP noted. A December date there would also have meant unusually cold racing.

What convinced F1

PlanetF1 reported that F1 laid out its case to the teams. There are no travel exclusions in place, insurance remains valid, MotoGP ran its Qatar round the previous weekend without trouble, and all 11 teams back finishing the season as planned. F1 said it has watched the region all year and seen nothing negative developing in Qatar or Abu Dhabi.

The decision dragged on for months. The AP noted that it came well past Stefano Domenicali's earlier forecast of a mid-September call. Waiting let F1 watch the MotoGP weekend at Lusail, which went ahead despite criticism from riders and Yamaha's withdrawal, and see whether the U.S. midterm elections were followed by an escalation in U.S. and Iranian military action. They were not.

Liberty Media CEO Derek Chang was at the MotoGP race in Qatar, according to The Race, and F1 already has staff on the ground in Doha and Abu Dhabi.

Ben Sulayem: "We are ready"

FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem, who is from the United Arab Emirates, posted on Instagram the same day that "the countdown is on."

"We are ready for Qatar and Abu Dhabi," Ben Sulayem wrote, according to the AP. He offered no detail on security planning, saying only: "We are working closely with our partners to ensure everything is in place for our drivers, teams and fans."

Not a blank check

This is a green light, not a guarantee. The Race reported (opens in a new tab) that F1 will still pull the races if threat assessments point to unnecessary risk, and that the monitoring runs until the last staff member leaves Abu Dhabi. The work involves F1 and FIA personnel, local police and security services, and foreign offices including the U.S. State Department and the U.K. Foreign Office. There are no do not travel advisories for Qatar or the UAE.

The timing also buys F1 roughly two more weeks before freight has to head for the Gulf after the Las Vegas Grand Prix, which races on Saturday, Nov. 21.

What it means for 2027

Next season is scheduled to open in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, and The Race reports F1 will draw up contingency plans regardless of how the 2026 finale goes. Saudi Arabia looks like the bigger problem: many governments advise against travel there because of fighting with the Iran backed Houthis, and without real improvement by early 2027, a March race in Jeddah is unlikely.

The Race outlined two fallbacks. If Bahrain stays and Saudi Arabia drops, testing would run at Sakhir in February, Bahrain would open the season on March 14, and the Australian Grand Prix would follow on April 4. If both drop, Sepang could host testing and an opener again, letting freight travel on to Australia, China and Japan in one loop without moving those races forward. No decision is needed until early 2027.

The run-in

Both titles are already settled, with Antonelli and Mercedes crowned, but the fight for second in the standings is still wide open with three races left: Las Vegas on Nov. 21, Qatar on Nov. 29 and Abu Dhabi on Dec. 6.

Sources: PlanetF1, The Race, Associated Press, Grande Premio.

Photo: Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (file photo from the 2025 Qatar Grand Prix weekend).