Return to Sepang confirmed! The Bahrain Grand Prix will take place in Malaysia – and will be called the “Bahrain Grand Prix”

It’s now official: as previously reported here on SPEEDWEEK.com, the Bahrain Grand Prix will indeed be rescheduled to take place on 4 October in Malaysia, between the races in Baku and Singapore. This was officially confirmed on Sunday afternoon during the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend by Formula 1, the FIA and the Sepang circuit.

Sepang is back in Formula 1

Following the last Grand Prix in 2017, the circuit near the capital Kuala Lumpur is back on the Formula 1 calendar – at least for one event. This fulfils a wish for many fans and some drivers too. Sepang has plenty of supporters!

‘Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia’ is the official name

Bizarre: the race is officially known as the “Bahrain GP”. The original Bahrain Grand Prix was actually scheduled for April, but had to be cancelled initially due to the war in the Middle East. The official name of the event is: “Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia”. Accordingly, one can read between the lines regarding the funding.

Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali: “We are delighted to confirm that Malaysia will host the Bahrain Grand Prix in 2026. Once again, the sport has demonstrated its ability to adapt, find solutions and deliver results, thereby creating an exciting moment for everyone who follows Formula 1.”

This means that at least one of the many question marks surrounding the 2026 calendar has been turned into an exclamation mark. The Bahrain GP is going ahead! The number of races had fallen from 24 to 22 – and is now back up to 23 (albeit with a question mark hanging over the season finale, see the last paragraph). However, there will probably be no opportunity to reschedule the race in Saudi Arabia, which was also originally scheduled for April and, like the Bahrain race, was cancelled due to the war with Iran. The regular calendar is simply too tight. And the situation in Saudi Arabia is also unstable.

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Baku-Sepang-Singapore triple-header

The autumn race calendar now looks as follows: the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku on 26 September, the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia on 4 October and the Singapore Grand Prix on 11 October. Given the long journey from Baku to Kuala Lumpur, it helps that the Azerbaijan race is taking place on a Saturday due to a public holiday.

Whether the two races at the season finale in Qatar (29 November) and Abu Dhabi (6 December) can go ahead as planned depends on the situation in the region. At present, this seems hard to imagine – though the situation in the Middle East is volatile. Behind the scenes, work is underway on various alternatives in Europe (alongside Portimão, the name Imola is now being mentioned more frequently) and elsewhere, in case the Middle East double-header proves impossible. The official announcement regarding the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia states: “The rest of the schedule remains unchanged.” This is therefore likely to be interpreted as an official ‘no’ to a Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in 2026.