Formula One bosses say they are monitoring the situation in the Middle East and any decision on races scheduled for Bahrain and Saudi Arabia next month will be guided by safety, the sport's governing body FIA said.
The conflict following joint US-Israeli attacks on Iran – and Tehran’s response to it – has caused widespread disruption to air travel across the Middle East, with many Gulf countries shutting down their airspace.
F1 officials have chartered flights to get key team staff to Melbourne for this weekend's 2026 Australian Grand Prix, according to The Athletic.
Approximately 1,500 paddock personnel – including team staff, race organisers and officials, and media and hospitality personnel – typically attend such a race, scheduled for March 8 at Melbourne's Albert Park track.
Many of these were scheduled to pass through airports in the Middle East, which serve as major worldwide transportation hubs, including Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the UAE and Doha in Qatar.
Retaliatory missile strikes continued to shake the region, causing a large percentage of flights in the area to be cancelled, although Abu Dhabi and Dubai airports said they were operating a limited number of flights on Tuesday.
F1 teams recently completed pre-season testing in Bahrain and many personnel were scheduled to pass through Qatar or the UAE on their journey to Australia for Sunday's race.
"You're talking about teams, drivers, Formula 1 personnel," Australian GP CEO Travis Auld told Australian network Channel Nine. "I'm guessing there'd be close to 1,000 people that would have already booked their flights and would be landing somewhere between sort of today, tomorrow, Wednesday.
"So they had to all be changed, but a lot of people around the world are on the same thing and so you're competing obviously with that increase in demand. But they've been able to sort it out is the important part.
"All the freight is here and ready to go and so we're in a space where we're really confident there'll be no impact [on the race]," added Auld. "The drivers will be here, the engineers will be here, the team principals will be here – they're the ones that have been prioritised."
Chartered flights are not uncommon during the F1 season. When Azerbaijan and Singapore were held back-to-back, F1 chartered a flight for some staff to ensure they reached Marina Bay as soon as possible.
"No doubts the events of the weekend have thrown out the travel plans for the teams and F1 themselves," Auld told Fox Sports on Monday.
"F1 are experts at moving people around the world and so they've quickly rescheduled flights. I'm told, everyone's now locked in and arriving within the required timeframes, and so there'll be no impact on our race."
The season-opener will be followed in March by races in China and Japan before the first of the Gulf races on the F1 calendar in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia in April.
Qatar and Abu Dhabi are the season-enders in November and December.
Mohammed ben Sulayem, the Emirati who heads the governing International Automobile Federation (FIA), said in a statement his thoughts were with all those affected.
"We are in close contact with our member clubs, championship promoters, teams, and colleagues on the ground as we monitor developments carefully and responsibly," he added. "Safety and well-being will guide our decisions as we assess the forthcoming events scheduled there for the FIA World Endurance Championship and the FIA Formula One world championship."
The Middle Eastern races are significant contributors to F1's revenues through hosting fees worth many tens of millions of dollars but Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar also have deep ties to the sport. Bahrain's sovereign wealth fund owns McLaren Racing while Abu Dhabi controls the sportscar company. Qatar has a significant investment in F1 newcomers Audi.
Saudi energy giant Aramco is a global partner of the sport and title sponsor of the Aston Martin team.
