Malaysia has become the main candidate to host a Formula 1 Grand Prix this season if Bahrain ultimately fails to reschedule its event, according to several sources.
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The championship had been forced to cancel the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix, initially scheduled for April 12 and 19, due to the conflict with Iran.
While Saudi Arabia has already given up on any rescheduling, Bahrain still hoped to be able to organize its race on October 4, between the Azerbaijan and Singapore Grands Prix.
Formula 1 indeed wishes to maintain as full a calendar as possible, especially since uncertainty also hangs over the last two rounds of the season, in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.
Sepang as Plan B
However, the security situation in the Middle East continues to deteriorate. Recent Iranian missile strikes on Bahrain now make holding a Grand Prix increasingly unlikely. In this context, the Sepang circuit has emerged as the most credible candidate to replace the Bahraini event.
Several circuits would have offered their services to Formula 1, but Sepang would have the best arguments. The Malaysian track, which hosted the world championship between 1999 and 2017, is appreciated by both drivers and fans and has an ideal logistical environment with the nearby Kuala Lumpur airport.
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Its infrastructures remain perfectly adapted to the current requirements of the discipline and its location naturally fits into the Asian leg of the calendar. The last Malaysian Grand Prix was won by Max Verstappen in 2017 (photo above).
Portimao instead of Abu Dhabi?
The decision could come quickly. The FIA World Motor Sport Council meets this weekend to assess, among other things, the situation of the World Endurance Championship (WEC) races scheduled in Qatar and Bahrain. If these two events were to be canceled for security reasons, it would become practically impossible to consider organizing a Formula 1 Grand Prix in Bahrain a few weeks earlier.
Formula 1 nevertheless prefers to wait as long as possible before officially modifying its calendar. Despite this caution, the current feeling in the paddock is that the Qatar and Abu Dhabi Grands Prix could also be called into question if the geopolitical situation in the Middle East continued to deteriorate.
In this context, a return of Sepang to the calendar (probably on October 4) increasingly appears as a credible solution to preserve the number of races planned this season. Furthermore, the Portimao circuit could potentially host the championship final on December 6, two weeks after the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
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