The latest Ive heard is that the officials at Bahrain are thinking that this may be the perfect opportunity to bin their contract with FOM. F1 does little for Bahrain and Bahrain does little for F1. A likely replacement in the middle east looks to be their neighbours across the gulf sea, Qatar at the losail venue. Other reports are saying they are looking to instead continue and slot a replacement date this year and extend the calendar through to december.
They should do a 1 off race in Jan to keep us all interested over winter I seriously doubt we'll see Bahrain again for at least 3 years, and with Qatar now having the World Cup in 2022 it would be good business for them to also get some F1 action in the near future.
I was gutted to hear the ripped up the old Hockenheim track. It was notoriously unsafe, but I'd much rather they adapted it so they could keep the really long sections it used to have. That would have made my ideal calendar too.
Brilliant! I would however like France to be raced again or two German grand prix. Perhaps even two Canada races!
Hahahaha… Very good. As for Bahrain, the Royal family are very keen to retain the F1 race as it brings huge international recognition to the Principality. And although of course they produce oil, they are something of a bit player in this regard when compared to their neighbours. For this reason they see F1 as key to generating international recognition and tourism. They want Bahrain to become its own brand, and F1 serves as their best advert.
Also tbh as someone who has been to the Bahrain race, it was a very good day out, not badly priced and treated very well. I personally wouldn't go again but this is only because i want to visit different races each time i go. However i didn't watch the race in 2005 when i got back on TV so i couldn't say if it was a good race but i have never watched a brilliant Bahrain race on TV. I would like to see it on the calender but not instead of better race such as france.