Where to next after the Bahraysian Grand Prix?

Statisticians still reeling after the aberrations of the COVID seasons will be needing a dose of smelling salts after this weekend’s developments.

70th Anniversary Grand Prix? Ah, OK. Styrian Grand Prix? Well, needs must if one has to differentiate between back-to-back events at the same venue.

But into which category will those of an exacting mindset fit the 2026 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia? Will the last polesitter be Oscar Piastri in 2025 or Lewis Hamilton in 2017? Will this be the 38th Malaysian Grand Prix, factoring in non-championship events at Thomson Road and Shah Alam, or the 22nd Bahrain Grand Prix – in which case, does this make for a fourth circuit configuration or a third, given the existence of the statistically anomalous Sakhir Grand Prix?

So many questions, so little willpower to process them all. And indeed, very few of these questions were being asked in the Hungaroring paddock on Sunday morning as word got around that an announcement was imminent. No – book first, questions later. Those who had been tipped the wink made sure they had their flights and hotels sorted before the official release triggered the inevitable ramping up of prices. This feeding frenzy merely added to the general sense of late capitalism reaching peak absurdity.

Still, at least this was a more productive clack-clacking on the keyboards than the other great occupation of the weekend, publishing speculative stories on which venue might be in line to replace Qatar and Abu Dhabi at the end of the season. The purpose of these kite-flying exercises appeared to be to observe the broken clock principle, whereby if at least one of them eventually came to pass, the outlet in question could crow from the virtual rooftops “as exclusively reported by…”

Perhaps one country acting as host for another’s grand prix is evidence of some imminent transfer to another plane of existence. I suggest this purely because Lance Stroll arrived this weekend modelling facial hair that would, if he were appearing in a 1960s episode of Star Trek, signify he is actually an evil Lance Stroll from a parallel universe.

F1 tested in Bahrain earlier this year - but won't be making a return trip later in the seaason

Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images

The Malaysia venue’s temporary reappearance on the calendar is a historically significant point, since this was very much the tip of the spear in former commercial rights holder Bernie Ecclestone’s push eastward at the turn of the century. Ere long the 16-race calendar would bloat towards 20 and beyond, bulging to accommodate new-build high-concept circuits funded by government cash in the likes of China, India, Korea, Abu Dhabi… and, yes, Bahrain.

Not all of them had the appetite to carry on beyond a handful of events as public interest remained too low for them to be remotely commercially viable. Malaysia soldiered on until 2017 despite meagre attendance, a consequence of a single ticket costing a month’s income for the average worker.

If only they had held on for longer, now F1’s global profile has surged thanks to the popularity of its fictional counterpart on Netflix. Every race weekend is a sell-out (at least according to F1’s on-screen captions, which surely can’t be wrong).

One rumour doing the rounds is that the Circuit of The Americas could host the finale a week after the Las Vegas Grand Prix

In an increasingly unstable global environment, this sort of thing could catch on. Quite frankly, those scrabbling for accommodation in Baku that doesn’t involve a host swapping locations at the last minute and demanding cash up front would be happy to see Azerbaijan pay to host its race elsewhere.

And then we come to the endlessly circular issue of the final races of the season. One rumour doing the rounds is that the Circuit of The Americas could host the finale a week after the Las Vegas Grand Prix. Well, given that the POTUS recently received a Boeing 747 courtesy of another gulf state, a Qatar Airways Qatar Grand Prix In The United States Of America seems plausible, if something of a mouthful.

Whatever – you heard it here first, right?

Where F1 will end the 2026 season requires a bit of guesswork at this stage

Photo by: Steven Tee / LAT Images via Getty Images