Photo; Prema
Formula 2 and the FIA Formula 3 Championship have cancelled their in-season test at Bahrain, in addition to having their race events in the Middle East drop off the schedule.
Due to the escalating war in the Middle East, which has involved military strikes on multiple nations, Formula 1 has decided to cancel the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian grands prix.
They were due to take place on back-to-back weekends in April, and F2 would have supported both. F3 was also due to be on the support bill at Bahrain, and the two junior single-seater championships were set to host their in-season tests there on March 25-27.
It has been reported that there was freight from F1’s support paddocks which was sent from Melbourne, where the F2 and F3 seasons began on March 6-8, to Bahrain ahead of the test at the desert track.
Formula Motorsport, promoter of F2 and F3, confirmed the changes to the two calendars in a statement which left ambiguity on whether the rounds in the Middle East had been cancelled or are to be rescheduled but with no set postponement plan in place. It would be logistically possible to race at Bahrain later this year without needing to support F1.
F2 and F3’s in-season test “is cancelled”, according to Formula Motorsport, but “after careful evaluations” the races at Bahrain and in Jeddah “will not take place in April”.
This mirrors the wording used in F1’s statement announcing the grands prix cancellation, and it is understood that those races will not be rescheduled or replaced.