Formula 1 is considering a surprise return to Malaysia this season as it contemplates the possibility of having to cancel all its Middle Eastern races amid ongoing hostilities in the region.
The Bahrain and Saudi Arabian grands prix, scheduled for April, were called off in March after US and Israeli strikes on Iran conflagrated into a regional war.
However, Formula 1 remained hopeful the race in Bahrain could be reinstated on the weekend of 2–4 October, between the Azerbaijan and Singapore grands prix, if tensions eased.
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The signing of a memorandum of understanding to end hostilities by both the United States and Iran on 17 June raised hopes, and Dutch paper De Limburger reported Formula 1 had been poised to announce Bahrain’s reinstatement around the time of the British Grand Prix, where F1 CEO Stefano Domenicail told Sky Sports the sport was “moving in this direction”.
But the ceasefire deal collapsed in the days after the Silverstone race, and both sides have returned to exchanging fire. Iran has regularly targeted Bahrain, which hosts a US Naval Forces Central Command base.
Domenicali said earlier this month that, owing to logistical requirements, a decision on reinstating Bahrain would have to be made “before the summer break”, which begins after this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix, which would appear to all but end the race’s chance of reappearing on the calendar this season.
The chance of a return to the Middle East in October is made even more remote by reports that the World Endurance Championship is preparing to call off its season-closing rounds in Qatar (24 October) and Bahrain (7 November) on safety grounds this weekend. The Qatar round had already been postponed from March because of the war.
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No decision is expected on Formula 1’s season-ending races in Qatar (29 November) and Abu Dhabi (6 December) until “the middle of September”, according to Domenicali.
F1 is expected to wait until the last possible moment to make a call on those events, similar to its approach in calling off Bahrain and Saudi Arabia earlier this year.
The risk of more cancellations appears to have firmed the sport’s resolve to make use of what would have been Bahrain’s new October date, and Malaysia’s Sepang International Circuit, located near Kuala Lumpur’s international airport, has emerged as a strong contender.
Hosting a race in what is currently a week off would ensure that the calendar could remain at 22 rounds even if Qatar and Abu Dhabi were cancelled, with the sport prepared to replace the two Middle Eastern rounds with only the Portuguese Grand Prix, likely on 6 December.
Logistically Malaysia is a neat fit. Not only is Sepang situated beside an international airport, but the Singapore Grand Prix on the following weekend is only 340 kilometres by road to the south.
The logistics would be further eased by the preceding weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix taking place on a Saturday owing to a national holiday on the Sunday, giving the sport an extra day for travel.
Sepang first joined the F1 calendar in 1999, but despite the circuit becoming a popular stop on the calendar for the sport, organisers baulked at the escalating hosting fee and withdrew from the calendar after the 2017 event.
It retains a MotoGP round, also in October, and is a well-used venue for regional motorsport categories.
Racer has reported, however, that Sepang isn’t the only race being considered for the slot and that funding for the event remains a question.
Though Formula 1 would prefer to retain at least 22 rounds this season, it is not contractually obliged to have this many races, meaning any new events would have to provide a financial return.
Hamilton smashes the wall in P3! | 01:08
F1 SETTLES LAS VEGAS CLASS ACTION
Ticketholders from the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix could see a slice of up to US$3.05 million (A$4.37 million) after Formula 1’s parent company agreed to settle a class action over its handling of the race.
The first day of the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix in 2023 was badly interrupted when a loose water valve cover was sucked out of the circuit and destroyed two cars minutes into the first practice session.
Organisers were forced to manually check and reseal 30 similar valve covers around the 6.2-kilometre temporary street course, delaying the start of FP2 by 2.5 hours, with pit lane opening at 2:30am.
However, spectators were ejected from the track an hour earlier, in part because some critical employees had worked their maximum shift lengths, leading to the 90-minute session being completed in front of empty grandstands.
Formula 1 offered practice-only ticketholders a $200 voucher to spend at the Las Vegas Grand Prix official shop, but those holding multi-day tickets were left uncompensated, and no fans were offered refunds.
The situation led to a class action being filed alleging breach of contract.
But The Athletic has reported that Liberty Media and the plaintiffs have agreed to settle the case rather than proceed to trial.
As a result, neither Liberty Media nor the grand prix organisers have been found liable over any of the allegations. The parties “deny any wrongdoing and maintain that there is no legal entitlement to a refund,” and “the court has not decided who is right,” according to the report.
The settlement must be approved by the court at a hearing scheduled on 4 November.
The Las Vegas Grand Prix is one of Formula 1’s modern showpiece events, with the sport investing around half a billion US dollars (A$716 million) on buying land, building infrastructure and preparing the streets for racing in the first year alone.
The city hailed the economic impact of hosting the race at a staggering $2.3 billion, including around $1.36 billion in visitor spending.
Clark Country, the district in which the race takes place, reported $118 million in F1-related tax receipts, the biggest tax take for any event in the country’s history.
Formula 1 and Las Vegas authorities agreed to a 10-year contract extension earlier this year that will see the race continue until at least the end of 2037.
Gasly suffers wild crash in Belgium | 00:27
LECLERC AGREES WITH PIASTRI AFTER BELGIUM CRASH
Charles Leclerc agrees that his defence against Oscar Piastri at last weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix deserved a penalty.
Leclerc and Piastri made contact while battling over a spot on the podium on lap 8. Piastri got a strong run out of La Source and through Eau Rouge and Raidillon to draw alongside Leclerc the down Kemmel Straight.
Leclerc defended from the middle of the road, forcing Piastri to take the outside line into the left-handed Les Combes.
But as they approached the braking zone, Leclerc drifted left and hit the McLaren with his rear-left tyre, breaking some of Piastri’s bodywork.
Both cars continued, but McLaren said Piastri lost up to 10 points of downforce, worth as much as 0.3 seconds per lap.
The stewards investigated the incident but decided no penalty was warranted, arguing that Piastri had “no possibility of … completing an overtake” and that Leclerc “did not deliberately crowd” him.
Piastri was surprised by the lack of action at the time.
“From where I was sitting, I was on the white line and got squeezed,” he said. “I don’t really know where I was supposed to go.”
Leclerc appeared to think similarly when he saw the incident in the highlights package played to the podium finishes in the cool-down room and admitted after the race that it had been “too close”.
Asked for his detailed opinion ahead of this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix, Leclerc admitted that he “agree[d] with Oscar”.
“At the end of the day, my view in the car is that I try to push the things to the limit,” he said, per The Race. “I think with Oscar it was a bit on the other side [of the limit], so that’s probably not the way I want to race all the time.
“It’s also risky for me at the end of the day. You’re always trying to leave the smallest place available. That was maybe a bit too sketchy.”
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