At the start of 2026, the Middle East had never looked more important to world motorsport. Formula 1 was due to race in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi. MotoGP had Qatar, the World Endurance Championship had Qatar and Bahrain, the World Rally Championship was ending its season in Saudi Arabia, and the Dakar Rally was preparing for its eighth edition in the Kingdom.
Then, on 28 February, US and Israeli strikes on Iran plunged the region into war. Over the next eight months, almost every international series had to tear up its plans for the Gulf. This is how the year unfolded, and what is still standing.
March: the first dominoes
The April double-header was the first casualty. On 15 March, during the Chinese Grand Prix weekend, Formula 1 confirmed that the Bahrain Grand Prix (12 April) and Saudi Arabian Grand Prix (19 April) were cancelled, along with the F2, F3 and F1 Academy rounds that were due to run alongside them. Both countries had been struck by attacks from Iran, and charter flights were already having to route around closed airspace.
Prince Khalid bin Sultan Al-Abdullah Al-Faisal, chairman of the Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation, said Saudi fans had been looking forward to Jeddah, but that the federation understood “the considerations behind this decision”.
The same weekend, MotoGP postponed its Qatar Grand Prix from April to 8 November. The World Endurance Championship had already moved its season-opening Qatar 1812km from its March date.
The scale went far beyond racing. By mid-March, the consultancy Northbourne Advisory had counted more than 100 events across the Gulf that had been cancelled, postponed or suspended.
July: Plan B, in Europe and Asia
By the summer, hopes that the conflict would ease in time for the autumn had faded. On 26 July, F1 announced that the Bahrain Grand Prix would be run at Sepang in Malaysia on 2–4 October as the “Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia”, restoring the calendar to 23 races. The Saudi round was not replaced.
Two days later, the WEC gave up on the Gulf entirely. Its final two rounds, the Qatar 1812km and the 8 Hours of Bahrain, were replaced by Barcelona and Monza, on 18 October and 8 November.
September and October: the war comes closer
On 17 September, the FIA and WRC Promoter cancelled Rally Saudi Arabia, which was due to close the World Rally Championship season in Jeddah in November. Two days later, a Houthi missile targeted Riyadh. In October, deadly strikes hit the city’s King Khalid International Airport.
On 4 October, the Bahrain Grand Prix was held thousands of kilometres from Sakhir. And on 30 October, after five days of emergency planning, ASO confirmed that the 2027 Dakar Rally would leave Saudi Arabia and run from Portugal to Morocco on 9–23 January.
What survived
Not everything was lost. MotoGP kept its promise to Qatar: the rescheduled Grand Prix went ahead at Lusail on 8 November, although Yamaha kept both its factory team and Pramac at home, saying it did not have enough reason to let its staff travel.
Regional racing carried on too. The FIA Middle East Rally Championship, the Qatar International Baja and the Saudi Toyota Drift Championship all held their 2026 rounds, and Nasser Al-Attiyah wrapped up a record 21st Middle East rally title.
What is still to come
The last weeks of the year will decide how 2026 is remembered. Formula 1 has confirmed that its season will end in the Gulf as planned, with the Qatar Grand Prix on 29 November and Abu Dhabi on 6 December. The Oman International Baja is set for 17–19 December. Formula E still plans to open its Gen4 era in Jeddah on 18–19 December, with a final decision due at the Madrid test next week.
The cost
The bill is hard to measure. Bahrain and Saudi Arabia together pay around $115 million a year to host Formula 1, according to Guggenheim estimates, and the Jeddah race alone has been credited with around $240 million in economic impact per edition. Both countries hold long-term F1 contracts, Bahrain until 2036 and Saudi Arabia until 2030.
The bigger cost is momentum. For a decade, Gulf states have built circuits, rally routes and championships to make the region a permanent home for world motorsport. The WEC has already said it intends to return to Qatar and Bahrain in 2027.
Whether 2026 becomes a lost year or a turning point will depend on what happens far away from the racetrack.
