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# 'Very difficult' to be convinced Middle East races go ahead - Sainz
- URL: https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/f1-qatar-abu-dhabi-very-difficult-to-be-convinced-races-go-ahead-carlos-sainz/
- Published: 2026-10-22T20:07:29.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-22T20:09:40.000Z
- Description: Carlos Sainz says it's "very difficult to be convinced right now" that F1's Qatar and Abu Dhabi weekends will definitely go ahead
- Author: Josh Suttill
- Tags: Formula 1, #abu-dhabi-grand-prix, #qatar-grand-prix, #carlos-sainz, #primary_homepage_feature

Carlos Sainz says it's "very difficult to be convinced right now" that Formula 1's Qatar and Abu Dhabi weekends will definitely take place.

F1 is pressing on with ending its 2026 season in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, with FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem adamant earlier this week that the races [will go ahead as planned](https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/fia-adamant-f1-qatar-abu-dhabi-gp-will-go-ahead/) despite continuing Israel/US-Iran tensions and additional conflict in the region.

It has become an uncomfortable topic among some F1 drivers and when the three who appeared in the FIA's first United States Grand Prix press conference - Carlos Sainz, Oscar Piastri and Isack Hadjar - were asked if they had any concerns about racing there, nobody moved to answer.

Grand Prix Drivers' Association director Sainz was told "you have the mic" but jokingly threw it down before answering: "I think they seem very convinced that it's going to go ahead.

"On my personal side, I'm not speaking as a GPDA \[representative\], it's very difficult to be convinced right now, because there are still things happening, plenty of things happening in the Middle East, and also there is obviously an election that is going to happen in the US \[midterms will take place on November 3\], and things that are going to happen in the political side of the world that could affect the next month, month and a half, very suddenly.

"So I think it's relatively premature to be so convinced, but as it stands, we will go to Qatar and Abu Dhabi, and if the FIA and Formula 1 decide that it's still safe and a good scenario, I think we, as drivers, have to go with whatever they say.

"It's not like...we don't have as much political information, as much inside information as they have, for sure, so we need to follow their lead and trust in their decision-making, but only as it stands.

"The world can change a lot in the next month, month and a half, and we need to stay diligent and reactive to whatever happens, and not just go because we want to go right now."

Piastri said he was "putting the trust in the FIA and F1, there's been difficult situations in the past, through conflicts and all kinds of things, so yeah, put our trust in F1 and the FIA, and listen to their advice".

Hadjar simply said: "I'm not sure, it's out of my control, so I drive on the track I need to drive, that's it."

Asked by The Race whether the GPDA felt compelled to raise any concerns with the FIA, Sainz replied: "The GPDA, as united as we are, we don't have half of the information that Formula 1 and FIA have with all the political battles that are happening in the world.

"The GPDA can help a lot to understand the sport, or make the FIA and F1 understand the sport, what makes racing better, what makes a racetrack better, what needs to be changed in order to get more safety, but about political matters, realistically none of us have the information and the contacts that F1 and FIA have.

"Similar to you guys \[the media\], you need to trust in a way the decision that F1 and FIA take about that matter, but as I said before, we need to stay reactive and see how situations change, I think they will do that and they will take the right decision when it comes."

Alpine driver Franco Colapinto said he was "comfortable with whatever F1 and FIA decide", and that they would be "the first ones to try and keep us safe".

"They have much more information than what we do. And they are experts in what they do," he said. "And it's their job to decide and decide the best option possible.

"So I just fully trust whatever they understand is possible."