Imola or Qatar and Abu Dhabi? What’s really going on with the end of the 2026 F1 season

Plan A is still to travel to Qatar and Abu Dhabi, but at the same time F1 has given Imola the green light to start its preparations in a way that ensures Imola does not face any financial risk

As Formula 1 enters the final phase of the season, with three triple-headers on paper, the question remains where the 2026 season will end. In theory, the Qatar and Abu Dhabi Grands Prix are still scheduled to take place, and F1 strongly emphasises that, as things stand, this also remains plan A.

At the same time, F1 has to be prepared for a scenario in which those races have to be cancelled because of all the continued unrest in the Middle East, and so the green light has been given behind the scenes to work on a plan B. Unsurprisingly, that plan B is the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari.

Sources within F1 told Autosport that the organisers in Imola have now been given the green light to build the grandstands and make preparations as if the race in Emilia-Romagna will take place.

This does not mean it will actually happen – Qatar and Abu Dhabi still constitute plan A – but Formula One Management (FOM) has to press ahead with an alternative in order to guarantee a season finale after the Las Vegas Grand Prix in any scenario.

Building the grandstands and continuing all preparations without final confirmation of a race logically brings financial risks, but sources in the paddock say F1 is covering all those risks. This means F1 is fully paying for the preparations – including the construction of the temporary grandstands – and that Imola will not face any financial risk regardless of the outcome.

In the scenario that the Imola option ultimately proves unnecessary, this approach will cost F1 money, but the sport has no choice. After all, if the situation in the Middle East escalates further a month before the scheduled races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, F1 cannot afford not to have a plan B ready to go.

This also underlines that F1 wants to wait as long as possible before making a final decision, while it should not be forgotten how financially attractive the final two race weekends in the Middle East are.

F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali initially said a decision would be made in mid-September, but the situation has changed since then.

Several team principals currently point to mid-October as the new timeframe for clarity, although F1 stresses that there is no hard deadline. From a logistical perspective, there is still relatively little urgency at this stage, as long as Imola is fully ready to step in on the first weekend of December.

The teams have also been informed of this reality and are not particularly concerned for now, several team principals stressed during Thursday’s press conference in Baku.

“I believe that Stefano was targeting to tell us in mid-October, right? So, we all know what the situation is”, Haas team boss Ayao Komatsu said.

“I believe that Imola is getting ready in case we have to do it. I think the challenges are, for instance, things like European motorhome structure, etcetera. All those people who look after them, they have a winter job, so we need to find alternative people to do that.

“But I’m sure we all, as a family, community, will make sure if we have to do that, that will happen. But hopefully, as a baseline, we can go to Qatar and Abu Dhabi. That would be really good.”

Audi team principal Mattia Binotto shares the same view and confirms that F1 teams should normally be informed by F1 around mid-October.

“As we discussed during the F1 Commission last Monday, mid-October is the last call for such a decision.”

Binotto does not see the potentially low temperatures as an obstacle to a possible season finale in Imola.

“The main challenges are more organisation and logistics, I would think. From a technical point, often we may say wintertime, snow tyres, but at the end, as a matter of fact, the average temperature in Imola in that time of the year is hotter than Las Vegas by the time we’ve got the race in Las Vegas.

“So I don’t think that’s a true concern. It’s more from the organisation and the logistics, really. And again, mid-October, hopefully we may do the right decision.”

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- The Autosport.com Team

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