According to Motorsport.com, Carlos Sainz has admitted that it is "difficult" to be convinced by Formula 1 chiefs that the final rounds of the 2026 season in Qatar and Abu Dhabi can proceed as planned.
Both Formula 1 management and the governing body, the FIA, maintain that the concluding double-header at the end of November and the first weekend of December can go ahead. Yet, with ongoing conflict involving the US, its ally Israel, and Iran, alongside Houthi rebel strikes on Saudi Arabia, the region remains extremely volatile. Further developments are anticipated around the US midterm elections on 3 November, with outlets reporting preparations for fresh attacks on Iran afterwards.
As it stands, we would go to Qatar and Abu Dhabi and if the FIA and Formula 1 decide that's still safe and a good scenario, I think we as drivers have to go with whatever they say,
While Formula 1 has prepared a contingency plan featuring an alternative season finale in Imola on the same weekend as the planned Abu Dhabi race, series chiefs remain keen to press ahead with the Middle Eastern rounds based on current assurances.
Speaking on Thursday ahead of the United States Grand Prix in Austin, Williams driver Sainz expressed doubt. "They seem very convinced that it's going to go ahead," Sainz said. "I think on my personal side, and not speaking as a GPDA, it's very difficult to be convinced right now because there's still plenty of things happening in the Middle East. And also there is obviously an election that is going to happen in the US and things that are going to happen in the political side of the world that could affect the next month and a half very suddenly. So, I think it's relatively premature to be so convinced."
Despite his skepticism, the Spaniard acknowledged that drivers ultimately must defer to series executives who possess deeper inside intelligence. "As it stands, we would go to Qatar and Abu Dhabi and if the FIA and Formula 1 decide that's still safe and a good scenario, I think we as drivers have to go with whatever they say," Sainz added. "It's not like we don't have as much inside information as they have, so we need to follow their lead and trust in their decision making. But only as it stands, I think the world can change a lot in the next month and a half. So we need to be reactive to whatever happens and not just go because we want to go right now."
