After Formula 1 broke its own record, set in 2021 with 22 Grands Prix, with a 23-race season in 2022, that record was supposed to be tied in 2023. However, flooding resulted in the cancelation of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola Circuit, and that race was not replaced.
But in 2024, instead of tying the record, Formula 1 broke it with the first 24-race season in the sport's 75-year history, and that record was tied in 2025.
Although Imola is the one and only track from 2025 that is no longer on the schedule, Formula 1 has added a second Spain race in Madrid, in addition to the traditional Barcelona event, meaning that there are once again a record-tying 24 Grands Prix on the 2026 calendar.
However, Formula 1 is facing a risk of not only not tying this record, but finishing the season tied for the fewest number of Grands Prix in a single year since the 2020 campaign, which was shortened due to COVID-19-related restrictions.
Due to the ongoing political conflict in the Middle East, there are still significant doubts about the feasibility of running the Bahrain Grand Prix at Bahrain International Circuit on Sunday, April 12 and the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at Jeddah Corniche Circuit on Sunday, April 19. Safety of drivers, teams, and fans simply must come first.
The problem is that Formula 1 has known about this conflict for weeks, yet no action has been taken.
As Beyond the Flag contributor Siddharth Bharani-Dharan recently noted, the two favorites to replace the Bahrain and Jeddah races are Portimao and, ironically, Imola. Portimao, which is already scheduled to host the Portuguese Grand Prix in 2027, hasn't hosted a Formula 1 race since it was added to the calendar in 2020 and 2021 as a COVID replacement.
However, Formula 1 has already missed out on a chance to run the Imola race on Sunday, April 19, as the World Endurance Championship was proactive in shifting its Qatar race weekend, which had been scheduled for the last weekend in March, to Imola for that weekend, due to the conflict.
Replacing two races at two venues on back-to-back weekends could prove challenging Formula 1, although Formula 1 does have the advantage of currently having an off weekend scheduled before the Bahrain race, following the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday, March 29, and after the Jeddah race, prior to the Miami Grand Prix on Sunday, May 3.
However, it's also not out of the question for Formula 1 to run two races at the same track. It's been done before, most recently with the Red Bull Ring in both 2020 and 2021, and in 2020, Formula 1 actually ran two different variations of the Bahrain course late in the year.
But one thing is clear: decisions need to be made, and they need to be made soon.
In the meantime, the 2026 Formula 1 season's second race, the Chinese Grand Prix, is scheduled to take place this Sunday, March 15 at Shanghai International Circuit, a venue that once saw four consecutive cancelations itself (2020 to 2023), due to COVID-19-related restrictions. Apple TV is set to provide live coverage beginning at 2:55 a.m. ET.