New contender emerges as F1's 2026 season finale back-up
Imola has entered the frame as one of the lead candidates to be slotted in as this year’s Formula 1 season finale if currently scheduled events in the Middle East have to be called off, The Race has learned.
The recent escalation of tensions between the United States and Iran appears to have not only scuppered any hope Bahrain had of returning to the calendar, but has also prompted doubt about whether the final races of the year in Qatar and Abu Dhabi will be able to go ahead too.
While F1 chiefs are edging closer a green light for a Malaysian GP on October 4 to fill in the gap that Bahrain would have taken, the end-of-year plans are a bit more up in the air right now as a decision on the Qatar and Abu Dhabi races will be made as late as possible.
However, F1 needs to have a fallback plan in place should the tensions in the Middle East not ease and it is forced to arrange something quickly.
If Qatar and Abu Dhabi are called off, F1 is eager to add another race after the Las Vegas Grand Prix on November 21 - with the original Abu Dhabi date of December 6 the most likely slot for it.
With the Malaysian GP in play, this December finale would then ensure that the 2026 season has had 22 races, which ensures it will have fulfilled various contractual commitments on the commercial front.
It had previously been thought that Portimao, which has hosted two editions of the Portuguese Grand Prix, appeared to be the most likely candidate due to its readiness and the climate being suitable for a race in December.
However, The Race has learned that in recent days there is some doubt about whether or not a Portimao race in December would make sense.
The Algarve International Circuit has a two-year deal to host the Portuguese GP in 2027 and 2028, but it is understood that it wants to complete some extra work on the facility and its infrastructure ahead of those events.
Such work may be delayed too much if it hosts a race in December, which is why there is some doubt now about whether or not it is realistic for F1 to go there if needed.
Amid F1’s search for an alternative, it has emerged that Imola is now on the shortlist to stage a grand prix once again, having originally fallen off the calendar this year.
It hosted F1 for the first time in 14 years in November 2020 when the first Emilia Romagna GP was run during the COVID pandemic and held the second round of the following year's championship.
Imola also appeared on the 2022 schedule when lingering COVID restrictions meant the Chinese GP required a replacement, and that same year it secured a three-year deal that kept it on the calendar through to 2025, although the 2023 edition was cancelled due to devastating flooding in the region.
Hosting a race in December would be a different prospect to Imola's previous late-in-the-year slot; the average daily high temperature for December is 7°C, while the mean temperature is 4°C, which would make it very difficult to generate tyre temperature.
But there is also logic to the season-ending race taking place in Italy in a year where Kimi Antonelli is favourite to win the F1 drivers' championship and Ferrari is in contention to win the constructors' championship. Imola is also the home town of F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali.
Calendar developments are expected imminently, with a decision on Bahrain’s fate expected to be fast-tracked by what is expected to be a decision this weekend by the FIA's World Motor Sport Council about two of its World Endurance Championship rounds.
The WEC season is currently due to end in the Middle East with a race in Qatar on October 24 - pushed back from its original March 28 date as a consequence of the outbreak of war between the US-Israel and Iran - and Bahrain on November 7.
This weekend's WMSC decision on those races, which will be primarily made on safety grounds, is set to influence the direction that F1 will take with its Middle Eastern races.
