Stefano Domenicali: 2026 F1 season will end in Europe if Qatar and Abu Dhabi races cannot go ahead

Stefano Domenicali, Formula 1 president, has said the 2026 championship will finish in Europe if the conflict in the Middle East makes it impossible to hold the season-closing races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi. Domenicali indicated that the location of the season finale would depend on whether those two Gulf events can be staged.

The remark concerns the conclusion of the 2026 campaign and highlights Qatar and Abu Dhabi as the rounds potentially affected by the regional conflict. Domenicali used the condition of the conflict rendering those races impossible to stage as the threshold for changing where the championship ends. The statement identifies the two season-closing races as the specific fixtures tied to that contingency.

Domenicali said the championship would be brought to a close in Europe if the conflict prevented the Qatar and Abu Dhabi events from taking place. His comment ties the timing and location of the finale directly to the feasibility of holding the Gulf rounds. The focus was explicitly on the two season-closing races mentioned.

The Formula 1 president’s words make clear that the outcome for the final rounds of 2026 rests on developments in the Middle East. If those developments make it impossible to stage the Qatar and Abu Dhabi races, the season’s end would shift to venues in Europe. The observation sets a condition for where the title race will conclude.

Domenicali’s statement centres on the link between the conflict and the ability to run the season-closing events in Qatar and Abu Dhabi. He specified Europe as the alternative location for concluding the 2026 championship should those races be unable to proceed. The comment does not elaborate beyond that conditional outcome.

The position articulated by Domenicali establishes a clear criterion for the location of the 2026 finale: continuation in Qatar and Abu Dhabi if feasible, otherwise an ending in Europe. That condition will determine where the championship is concluded depending on developments in the Middle East.