Yamaha pull out of MotoGP's Qatar race. Will F1 still go to Qatar and Abu Dhabi?
Yamaha won't race at Lusail next weekend because of the war in the region, and MotoGP is threatening consequences. F1 is due at the same track in four weeks. Will the Qatar and Abu Dhabi races go ahead, and would any F1 team dare to stay away?
Yamaha won’t race at MotoGP’s Qatar Grand Prix next weekend. On Sunday, at Sepang, the team announced it is keeping its four bikes at home because of the war between the United States and Iran.
It’s the first team to pull out of a race in the region. And it lands four weeks before Formula 1 is due at the same track.
What Yamaha said
Yamaha already bans its staff from travelling to Qatar, and says nothing has changed its mind: it “has not identified sufficient grounds to change its existing company-wide travel restrictions.”
That covers the factory team, with Fabio Quartararo and Alex Rins, and the Pramac satellite team, with Jack Miller and Augusto Fernández. Yamaha says it “remains fully committed to MotoGP and looks forward to returning to competition at the Portuguese Grand Prix.”
MotoGP isn’t happy. The series said it was “disappointed”, that the decision doesn’t reflect “the extensive assurances provided to all championship stakeholders”, and that Yamaha now faces consequences under its contracts, with any sporting penalties left to the FIM.
Yamaha team members on the pit wall during practice at the 2026 Malaysian MotoGP. Photo: Behind the Paddock
The riders don’t want to go either
Yamaha isn’t the only one with doubts. “I don’t want to go,” Miller said at Sepang. “There’s 19 of us that don’t want to go there.” He added: “I don’t think we should be racing in those sort of conditions.”
Others are more relaxed. Pecco Bagnaia said the riders “received almost everything we asked”. Honda and KTM have confirmed they’re going, and Ducati and Aprilia plan to travel as normal. Even Yamaha’s Moto2 team is still going, because both its riders wanted to.
The Qatar round was already moved once: it was due in April and postponed because of the war. It now runs from 6 to 8 November.
What about F1?
F1 is due at Lusail for the Qatar Grand Prix from 27 to 29 November, then at Yas Marina for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix from 4 to 6 December. Both are still on.
The war has already cost F1 two races this year. The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was cancelled, and the Bahrain Grand Prix moved to Sepang.
The start of the 2026 Bahrain Grand Prix, moved to Sepang in Malaysia because of the war. Photo: Behind the Paddock
Over the summer, F1 boss Stefano Domenicali said that if the last two races weren’t safe, the season would finish in Europe, with Imola the leading candidate.
In October he decided to keep them. “Formula 1 will adhere to the original calendar,” he said. “Based on the assurances we have received, the final two races will take place in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.”
Since then, things haven’t got calmer. This week the FIA postponed its Extreme E event in Saudi Arabia, after airstrikes on the country earlier in the month. Imola is reportedly still on standby.
Would any F1 team pull out?
So far, no F1 team has said anything like Yamaha. The drivers have been split:
- Max Verstappen said in September that F1 “shouldn’t go” while there’s a war nearby. Since then he’s softened: “I trust that F1 and then the FIA will take the right decision.”
- Carlos Sainz said “it’s very difficult to be convinced right now”, but that he trusts F1 and the FIA to make the call.
- James Vowles, the Williams team boss, said F1 and the FIA have “a plan B and plan C”.
Yamaha’s decision came from head office in Japan, not from the race team. That’s worth remembering in F1, where some teams also answer to big car companies, Toyota through its Haas partnership and Honda as Aston Martin’s engine supplier. But nothing suggests either is thinking of staying away. And like Yamaha, any F1 team that skipped a race would face serious contractual and sporting consequences.
What it means for the title
If F1 did cancel Qatar and Abu Dhabi without replacing them, Kimi Antonelli would win the title automatically, if he hasn’t already sealed it in Mexico tonight. Find out what he needs.
Our view
F1 isn’t going to follow Yamaha, at least not yet. Domenicali has made his decision, and F1 relies on its Middle East races far more than MotoGP does. The real test comes on 6 to 8 November: if MotoGP’s weekend in Qatar passes without trouble, F1’s case gets stronger. If it doesn’t, the Imola backup could come back fast.
