What you need to know about F1's big 2026 calendar decision
Portimao in Portugal is Formula 1's fallback option if it needs to find a replacement event for the final two races of the season in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.
However, with a decision looming about whether the situation in the Middle East has calmed down enough to commit to the current schedule, there are growing indications that F1 will not actually need an alternative solution in place.
F1 was forced to call off the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian GPs earlier this year in the wake of the United States-Israel war with Iran.
The races were never formally cancelled, though, as F1 left itself some room to get them back on before seeing how the Middle East conflict played out.
Amid careful monitoring of the situation over the early part of the year, and ongoing discussions with teams, F1 decided to defer a final call on what it would do until the summer shutdown at the latest.
This deadline involved two key decisions that were needed to finalise the plans for the second half of the year.
The first was whether the events in Qatar on November 29 and Abu Dhabi on December 6 could go ahead as intended.
The second was whether there was any scope to slot back in the races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
If none of these were possible then it was long understood that F1 would not want to cut back the calendar to 20 races from its originally scheduled 24, and so would add one extra event.
Various options emerged, with even talk of a double-header in Las Vegas to finish the season. However, this idea would have been difficult to sort; the weekend after the Las Vegas GP on November 21 is Thanksgiving.
Instead, it is understood that the preferred option that has emerged if F1 needs to slot one more race in is Portimao in Portugal.
The venue is already returning to the F1 schedule in 2027 and 2028 as part of a new two-year deal, and already has proven its ability to put on events through its hosting of races during the Covid pandemic in 2020 and 2021.
However, F1 may not need to advance thoughts on an alternative as the situation in the Middle East eases.
A ceasefire agreement and ongoing peace talks has led to a de-escalation of tensions.
If things continue to look positive, then that could not only lead to confirmation that the Qatar and Abu Dhabi GPs will go ahead, but may also trigger thoughts on the long talked about idea of getting Bahrain back on.
The most obvious slot to hold that race in is in the gap between the Azerbaijan GP on September 26 and the Singapore GP on October 11.
If that happens this would mean the season finishes with a gruelling nine races in 11 weekends.
