Formula 1's planned 24-race 2026 calendar is on the brink of becoming a 22-race season, with Sky Sports F1 reporter Craig Slater telling viewers that the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grand Prix cancellations will be official within days.
Speaking on Sky Sports F1, Slater said the call has been made even if the public statement hasn't yet landed.
"I expect confirmation of that within the next 48 hours," Slater said. "No comment from Formula 1, no comment from the FIA, but leadership figures from within the sport have given me that guidance."
The two Middle Eastern rounds were scheduled as the fourth and fifth events of the 2026 calendar. Slater believes neither slot will be filled — meaning the season simply contracts rather than rotates in a substitute venue.
"In the conversations I've had, I think the likeliest scenario is that they will not be replaced. So we would be looking at a 22-race rather than a 24-race calendar," he said.
The driver behind the decision is the deteriorating security situation in the region, but Slater said the calculus extends beyond the obvious safety concerns. Logistics and insurance, he explained, have become the practical breaking points for any return this year.
"Aside from the safety considerations, which are paramount, of course, logistical matters would make these races extremely difficult," Slater said. "And then there's the question of insurance for all the staff and equipment going to those locations as well."
"It's no real surprise that the situation in the Middle East has not improved in recent days. And the FIA and Formula 1 have always stressed that safety is paramount in this matter," he said.
The TacticalRab F1 News channel echoed the trajectory in his own analysis of the situation: "Right now, it looks like we're going towards a 22-race season," he said, noting that financial considerations make swapping in two replacement venues at short notice virtually impossible.
Not every reaction inside the paddock is purely commercial. Williams' Carlos Sainz, asked about the cancellations during a media session ahead of the next Grand Prix, was openly conflicted — torn between wanting to race and acknowledging the silver lining for a team in development.
"By the way, I curse everything that's happening in the world right now and why we are not going to the Middle East," Sainz said. "I hate the fact we're not racing, but for us as a team, it couldn't come at a better time."
The extended break, Sainz added, gives Williams a rare window of factory time to push their 2026 car forward before Miami — an upgrade runway most rivals will quietly envy.
With Bahrain and Saudi Arabia gone, the 2026 calendar's centre of gravity now shifts firmly towards the Miami Grand Prix as F1's next race weekend. For the championship, that means a longer development gap, a longer reset, and — for the first time since the late-2010s expansion drive — a season pulled back below the 23-race line.
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*Originally published on [NewsFormula One](https://newsformula.one/article/f1-2026-bahrain-saudi-cancelled-22-race-calendar-slater-sainz-confirmation). Visit for full coverage.*