The most expensive weekend in motorsport is staying exactly where it was. Formula 1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali has confirmed that the season will end in Qatar on 29 November and Abu Dhabi on 6 December, despite the war in the region.
He said it on the sidelines of the Bahrain Grand Prix. That race wasn't in Bahrain at all: it was moved to Malaysia's Sepang circuit this season. Bahrain and Saudi Arabia were both scrapped from their original slots after the US-led war with Iran began.
The awkward part: the man on pole disagreed
Max Verstappen, who started from pole in Sepang and went on to win, said during the week that he would rather the season not finish in the Gulf. His point was simple: when there's a war nearby, the sport shouldn't be there. He's a four-time world champion, not a backbencher, so it landed.
Domenicali's answer was that everything is confirmed based on the information F1 has, and that teams and drivers are being kept informed. According to Gulf News, moving the Abu Dhabi finale to Imola in Italy had been considered as an option. It didn't happen.
The number that explains everything
Abu Dhabi is 99% sold, Domenicali said. A season finale under lights, around three hours' flying from Delhi and Mumbai, is not something anyone wants to relocate in October.
Where the title fight stands
Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli leads the drivers' championship on 320 points, 84 clear of teammate George Russell (236). Lewis Hamilton is third on 214 for Ferrari, ahead of Charles Leclerc (191), with Lando Norris and Verstappen level on 188. Seven rounds remain, starting with Singapore on 11 October.
If the gap holds, the Gulf double-header may be where a 20-year-old becomes champion. Whether he does it in front of a sold-out Yas Marina is now F1's call, and it has made it.
GIST will update this story if the schedule changes.
