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Mohammed Ben Sulayem | FIA president

FIA reaffirms commitment to ending F1 season in Qatar and Abu Dhabi

The FIA has published a social media post underlining its commitment to end the F1 season in the Middle East as planned.

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The FIA and its President, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, have reiterated their stance that the F1 season will end as planned in the Middle East.

The campaign-concluding triple header is scheduled to see the paddock head from Las Vegas to Qatar and finally to Abu Dhabi.

However, the instability in the Middle East after the start of the United States-Iran war in March has caused considerable uncertainty across the year.

Whilst it has become clearer in recent weeks that Formula 1 can — and most likely will — finish the calendar as designed, there are contingency plans in place.

Imola is on standby to hold a one-off round in place of the finale in early December if F1 does not deem it ultimately safe to visit Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

MotoGP held a round in the former nation last weekend, which should provide further reassurance that the final two F1 weekends can go ahead.

Although the region remains volatile, there has not been a recent escalation in hostilities between the United States and Iran, which led to strikes across the Gulf earlier in 2026.

That not only affected travel to the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, but also saw the rescheduling and relocating of the Bahrain Grand Prix to Malaysia in October and the outright cancellation of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

But as F1 prepares to head back to the Middle East for the first time since pre-season testing, the FIA has reaffirmed the decision with a statement of support.

"The countdown is on for Qatar and Abu Dhabi," Ben Sulayem wrote on a social media post. "We are fully focused on delivering two exceptional grand prix weekends.

"We are working closely with our partners to ensure everything is in place for our drivers, teams and fans.

"We look forward to welcoming everyone for two thrilling weekends of racing and an unforgettable finish to the Formula 1 season."

Check out that social media post below!

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