MELBOURNE, March 6 : Mercedes boss Toto Wolff hopes Formula One’s races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia can go ahead but said the motor sport championship was not top priority amid the conflict in the Middle East.
U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran have closed airports in the region, including Bahrain, while Iranian missiles have targeted Gulf capitals.
Formula One has said it is monitoring the situation, with Bahrain hosting F1’s fourth round from April 10-12 and Saudi Arabia staging the fifth a week later.
“First of all, Formula One in a way becomes the second priority,” Wolff told a press conference on Friday at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
“It’s (Middle East situation) such an important topic in the region that it’s even quite difficult, I guess, to talk to the local leaders and say: ‘What about the grand prix?’
“I would very much hope we race. Is it realistic that we race there at the moment? I’m not quite sure.”
Wolff said it was up to F1 boss Stefano Domenicali and the governing FIA to manage the situation while respecting the current challenges faced by Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
“My hunch is I would very much hope we race … But again, I leave it to Stefano to manage that situation,” the Austrian added.
“I hope generally it gets better there so we are able to come back as soon as possible.”
Audi team principal Jonathan Wheatley said the team were monitoring the geopolitical situation carefully but would take advice from F1.
“In our sport, a week’s a long time,” Wheatley told Reuters in Melbourne. “Two weeks is an eternity and so it feels like a long way away yet to be speculating about whether a race will happen or not.”
The war in the Middle East has also put MotoGP’s Qatar Grand Prix in doubt. Carmelo Ezpeleta, the motorcycling series boss, said on Wednesday it would be very difficult to go ahead with the April 10-12 race at the Lusail circuit outside Doha.
The World Endurance Championship called off its season-opening race in Qatar scheduled for March 26-28.
