FIA confirm new races in Miami and Canada following cancellation of Middle East rounds
The FIA have confirmed two more events will be added to its 2026 calendar following the cancellation of race weekends in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
The ongoing US/Israel-Iran war in the Middle East led to the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix, both due to be held this month, being cancelled by the FIA.
That reduced the Formula 1 calendar down from 24 to 22 races, with the FIA confirming that they would not be replaced by alternative tracks.
Alongside the F1 race, two rounds of Formula 2 were due to be held concurrently at Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
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But unlike in the case of F1, and given there are only 14 rounds on the F2 calendar, the FIA have taken the decision to replace the two cancelled rounds.
F2 will now run alongside the F1 schedule in Miami and Canada next month instead, for the second and third rounds of its season.
It will be the first time that F2 cars will race in North America, with series CEO Bruno Michel stating: "I would like to thank Stefano Domenicali [F1 CEO] and Formula 1 for their support in making this possible, and also the FIA, the promoters of the Miami and Canadian Grands Prix, and of course my team, who have worked hard to put in place two new Rounds in such a short amount of time.
"It was not an easy thing to do, but bringing F2 to North America for the first time is really fantastic.
"It's something we have been wanting to do for a long time, and it enables us to ensure we're back racing as quickly as possible."
There is additional intrigue surrounding F2 this season, with Colton Herta having made the move across from IndyCar.
The 26-year-old, a nine-time IndyCar race winner, made the decision to quit US single-seater racing to take up a reserve driver role with the Cadillac F1 team.
The agreement could see Herta be promoted to a race seat in the coming seasons, with his F2 stint intended to get him enough Super Licence points to qualify for an F1 drive.
Herta currently has 35 points, which is five below the amount needed for a Super Licence.
The points are counted across the past years, meaning that, as Herta only finished 10th in IndyCar in 2023 to pick up a single point, he only needs to finish in sixth place in the F2 standings this season - for a further six points - to qualify for his Super Licence.
Unlike Herta, a number of current IndyCar drivers - Alex Palou, Pato O'Ward and Scott McLaughlin - have already qualified for their Super Licences. Palou is the reigning four-time series champion.
Ryan Smart