Ferrari Team Principal Frederic Vasseur explains the impact of the current uncertainty surrounding the calendar—he expects a final decision in September
Will Formula 1 race in Qatar and Abu Dhabi this year or not? Both World Championship races are still on the calendar and are scheduled to take place, but due to the situation in the Middle East, it cannot be ruled out that the two races—currently slated to be the final ones of the 2026 season—might still be canceled.
Should that actually happen, an alternative season finale in Imola is currently being considered. This poses several challenges for the Formula 1 teams in their planning. “You don’t know whether you still have ten or twelve races ahead of you,” explains Ferrari Team Principal Frederic Vasseur.
In fact, there are currently several scenarios. If the two races were to be canceled without replacement—which is rather unlikely, since Stefano Domenicali has already announced that the season won’t end in Las Vegas—there would be only nine races remaining from this point on.
With a “replacement finale” in Imola, there would still be ten; if racing in the Middle East were possible, there would still be eleven Grands Prix. “At some point, we’ll have to make a decision,” Vasseur clarifies, citing primarily logistical reasons.
Although the races in Qatar (November 29) and Abu Dhabi (December 6) are scheduled to take place in three months’ time. “But I think, for logistical reasons, we all need to make a decision together by September, since we have to ship the equipment to the Middle East,” Vasseur emphasizes.
Although the two races would not take place for several months, according to the Ferrari team principal, a decision must be made in the coming weeks. Such a decision would also have an impact on some developments within the teams.
No updates planned for the season finale, but …
“The development plan isn’t changing just because these are the last two [races]. We won’t be bringing anything new to the last two,” Vasseur emphasizes. In other words: Major upgrades were never planned by Ferrari—and likely by almost all other teams—for Qatar and Abu Dhabi anyway.
In this regard, nothing would change, but Vasseur also explains: “The cost cap could be a trickier issue, because the costs of traveling to Abu Dhabi and Qatar to compete in two races there are enormous.”
“If you don’t go there, you might be able to spend that money elsewhere beforehand—for example, on development or something similar,” says the team principal. After all, a Grand Prix at Imola would be significantly cheaper for teams based in Europe than two overseas races.
The money saved under the cost cap as a result could then be spent on additional upgrades, for example. That’s another reason why a timely decision would be important for the teams, although Vasseur also makes it clear that he’s still relatively relaxed at the moment.
A decision in the coming weeks would be “still early enough to handle the last six or seven races after September,” according to the Ferrari team principal.
