Bahrain, Saudi Arabia Poised to Host 2022 Formula 1 Season-Opening Doubleheader

• Australia has been Formula 1’s scheduled season-opener since Melbourne’s Albert Park circuit joined the calendar in 1996.

• Officials in Australia have previously outlined that they are unlikely to pursue a return to opening the championship in 2022 and prefer an April date at the earliest.

• It is now widely expected that Formula 1’s 2022 campaign will debut in Bahrain in March and potentially be followed by a race in Saudi Arabia a week later.

Formula 1’s new era appears set to open with two events in the Middle East in 2022, with Bahrain looking likely to be followed by neighbor and close ally Saudi Arabia.

Australia has been Formula 1’s favored season-opener since Melbourne’s Albert Park circuit joined the calendar in 1996, but its Grand Prix was canceled in 2020 as the pandemic worsened. Australia was again installed as 2021’s season-opener before the event was first postponed until November and later canceled for a second year due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.

Officials in Australia have previously outlined that they are unlikely to pursue a return to opening the championship in 2022 and prefer an April date at the earliest.

Bahrain, which opened Formula 1 seasons in 2006 and 2010, consequently became the first round of the 2021 season in late March. A three-week gap then followed to round two at Imola, Italy. It is now widely expected that Formula 1’s 2022 campaign, in which the cars will be designed to overhauled technical regulations, will debut in Bahrain in March and potentially be followed by a race in Saudi Arabia a week later.

The island nation of Bahrain, located in the Persian Gulf, is connected to Saudi Arabia via the King Fahd Causeway, and they are political allies in the region. Saudi Arabia will join Formula 1’s calendar for the first time later in 2021, with a race set to take place around the corniche of its second city, Jeddah. Tickets for the event went on sale this week.