Due to the conflict in the Middle East, there will be no racing in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia and significant revenues will be missing. But the Saudi race could be recovered
Even Formula 1 pays a heavy price for the war in the Middle East. The cancellation of two grand prix (Saudi Arabia and Bahrain) will reduce the number of races from 24 to 22 and will have a significant impact on the organization that manages Formula 1. Between TV rights, sponsors and local revenues, the loss will be over 100 million dollars, essentially what will be contained overall and will only affect profit margins. Given that one of the two grand prizes could be recovered if the conflict were to end soon, Guggenheim analysts estimate a revenue loss of $190-200 million for Liberty Media, but in reality a more reliable figure speaks of just over 100 millionthe. But the company is solid, as demonstrated by the balance sheet figures of recent seasons. In 2025, revenues grew 14%, reaching $3.9 billion. Liberty Media Corporation is valued at 25 billion dollars and the trend in recent years has always been positive: +92 million in 2021, +239 in 2022, +392 in 2023, +492 in 2024, +632 in 2025. The demonstration of Liberty’s solidity is the small negative percentage recorded on the stock market on the day of the announcement of the cancellation of the two grand prix: only 1.3%.
The weight of the Saudis
In addition to television rights and sponsorships, there is another revenue channel that will be heavily penalized for the cancellation of two grand prix: that of commissions paid by the promoters of the grand prix, to which F1 grants the license to host, organize and promote the races, managing the ticket office and local sponsorships. Not all organizers pay the same amount, but those in the Middle East are the most generous: Bahrain and Saudi Arabia pay 115 million a year, with the Saudis guaranteeing the largest share (70) Government investments in sport are increasingly heavy (around 20 billion) and the interest in Formula 1 is also demonstrated by the fact that in 2021 the Pif sovereign fund invested, together with Ares Management, 550 million dollars to support McLaren in exchange for a package of shares sold two years later to Mumtalakat (Bahrain fund which subsequently became 100% owner of British stable). And the Saudi company Saudi Aramco, in addition to having a very heavy sponsorship contract with Formula 1, is also the main sponsor of Aston Martin. This is why it is very likely that the grand prix which was scheduled in Jeddah for next weekend and which was canceled due to the conflict in the Middle East be recovered later.
