Malaysia to host rescheduled Bahrain Grand Prix F1 race in October

What the report says

Al Jazeera, citing Reuters, reports that Formula One has announced Malaysia’s Sepang circuit will stage the rescheduled Bahrain Grand Prix on October 4. The race, to be run near Kuala Lumpur’s international airport, will formally carry the title “Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia.” Formula One chief executive Stefano Domenicali announced the decision at the Hungarian Grand Prix and said agreements involved Malaysia, Bahrain, the FIA and Formula One.

The Bahrain race at Sakhir was originally called off in April, along with the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in Jeddah, because of the US-Israel war on Iran and wider Middle East spillover, according to the report. Moving the event to Sepang restores the 2026 championship calendar to 23 races, though Al Jazeera reported there is still uncertainty over whether the final rounds in Qatar and Abu Dhabi will proceed.

Sepang last hosted Formula One in 2017 and has more recently been used for MotoGP. The rescheduled event is set to fall between the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on September 26 and the Singapore Grand Prix on October 11. The report notes there are precedents for a race being held in one country while carrying another country’s Grand Prix name, including past events linked to Luxembourg, San Marino and Switzerland.

The Bahrain Grand Prix is a major international sporting showcase for the kingdom, and Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat owns McLaren. Al Jazeera reported that Bahrain has faced Iranian missile and drone attacks. The Sepang event still requires final agreements and approval by the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council.