MELBOURNE/LONDON, March 2 (Reuters) - Formula One is keeping a close eye on the situation in the Middle East and any decision on races scheduled for Bahrain and Saudi Arabia next month will be guided by safety, the sport and governing body FIA said.
Australian Grand Prix chief executive Travis Auld expected there to be no impact on this weekend's season-opener at Melbourne's Albert Park from travel issues caused by conflict in the Gulf region.
U.S. and Israeli bombing of Iran at the weekend was followed
by retaliatory strikes on Gulf States with the result that all activity in one of the world's main aviation hubs has ceased.
Formula One teams recently completed pre-season testing in the Gulf State of Bahrain and many personnel were scheduled to pass through Qatar or the United Arab Emirates on their journey to Australia for Sunday's race.
"No doubts the events of the weekend have thrown out the travel plans for the teams and F1 themselves," Auld told Fox Sports on Monday.
"F1 are experts at moving people around the world and so they've quickly rescheduled flights. I'm told, everyone's now locked in and arriving within the required timeframes, and so there'll be no impact on our race."
RACES IN BAHRAIN AND SAUDI IN APRIL
The season-opener will be followed in March by races in China and Japan before the first of the Gulf races on the Formula One calendar in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia in April.
Qatar and Abu Dhabi are the season-enders in November and December.
Mohammed Ben Sulayem, the Emirati who heads the governing International Automobile Federation (FIA), said in a statement his thoughts were with all those affected.
"We are in close contact with our member clubs, championship promoters, teams, and colleagues on the ground as we monitor developments carefully and responsibly," he added.
"Safety and wellbeing will guide our decisions as we assess the forthcoming events scheduled there for the FIA World Endurance Championship and the FIA Formula One world championship."
Formula One said separately it was closely monitoring the situation.
Auld said that the nature of the Albert Park venue made it unlikely that Melbourne would be able to step in and stage another race if the conflict meant Bahrain or Saudi Arabia were unable to host their rounds.
"Obviously, we spent a lot of time constructing this circuit, and straight after the race, we pull it all back down again so the community can use it," he said.
"They'll have other plans in place, as you would imagine, for a whole series of reasons."
The Middle Eastern races are significant contributors to Formula One's revenues through hosting fees worth many tens of millions of dollars but Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar also have deep ties to the sport.
Bahrain's sovereign wealth fund owns McLaren Racing while Abu Dhabi controls the sportscar company. Qatar has a significant investment in F1 newcomers Audi.
Saudi energy giant Aramco is a global partner of the sport and title sponsor of the Aston Martin team.
Formula One ran races without spectators during the COVID-19 pandemic and also has a list of circuits that might be able to step in at short notice, should that be required.
In 2022 the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix went ahead despite rocket attacks by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis on an oil facility near the Jeddah street circuit.
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney in Sydney/Alan Baldwin in London, editing by Christian Schmollinger and Ed Osmond)
