Formula 1 has confirmed that Imola is among the venues being considered as a possible replacement for the championship’s end-of-season races should ongoing instability in the Middle East force a change to the 2026 calendar.
With the war in Iran continuing to cast uncertainty over the final rounds in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, F1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali said the sport is deliberately waiting before making a final call, while preparing contingency plans in Europe.
The Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix were already postponed earlier this year, and Bahrain has since been moved to Malaysia. Attention has now shifted to whether the Gulf finale can proceed as planned.
Decision delayed until September
Domenicali stressed that Formula 1 is monitoring the situation closely and coordinating with other major championships.
“With regard to the end of the season, we are in touch with all the other championships, and I know that, for example, WEC has announced that they will not go at the end of the year in the Middle East and they will stay in Europe,” he said, quoted by RACER.
“The way that we are structured is that we will take the maximum time for us to see how the situation will develop. And we will take the decision at the right time.
“That moment will be not before the middle of September. For us today, the race in Qatar and Abu Dhabi are confirmed – they are already sold out. That is an incredible sign of how much the sport is bigger than the problem that our world is living – but of course, if the situation will not be clearer the way that we believe it should be, before the middle of September, we will take the decision.
“And in that respect, I just want to confirm to you that if this will not be possible, that the end of the season will be in Europe, because we cannot go in other places. So the end, eventually, will be in Europe.
“There are some possibilities on the table. I don't think it's right to make some promises or anticipate the circumstances, but that's the situation of today. So even if I really hope that it will not be the case, if the situation will not allow for us to be there, we’re going to finish the championship in Europe.”
Those remarks effectively place Imola on standby, with the Italian circuit now firmly in the conversation should Formula 1 need a late-season European finale.
Imola in the frame, U.S. option ruled out
Domenicali also confirmed that expanding the American leg of the calendar is not under consideration, despite Las Vegas hosting the race immediately before the planned Gulf double-header.
“Definitely, I can guarantee to you that we will not do any other race in the U.S.," he said. "There was a possibility of having two races in Las Vegas, but we don't want to ruin… a jewel that is growing by undervaluing what we are doing there.
"And, of course, we don't have to forget in that period of the year, we are fighting against the NFL. That is a major sport that is... I don't want to say detracting, but a lot of fans are watching that. So we need to avoid any kind of situation that would put us in front of something that, of course, is still very big in the U.S.
“Therefore, considering the constraint that we have, we need to go back to close all the Brexit-connected documentation from abroad in the UK and then go to another place.
“Therefore, as I said, the only possibility is to finish in Europe within the same framework of the time, hoping that there will be no snow!
“I remember we were in the Nurburgring when we had been many years ago, the racing, we had also a situation where we had some spits of snow that actually became rain. So hopefully this will not happen. If it's happening, we will try to react to that… I think that the weather should allow us to race in Europe, even at the beginning of December.”
For Imola, which lost its place on the 2026 calendar, the development offers a realistic route back onto the schedule. While no replacement has been selected, Domenicali’s comments make clear that Europe — and potentially Imola — is at the front of the queue if Formula 1 is forced to redraw the closing chapter of its season.
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