The FIA anticipates that the Formula 1 races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi will proceed as scheduled.

Given the geographical closeness of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to the conflict zones, the two concluding races of the season in the Middle East faced uncertainty; however, F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali had mentioned weeks ago that maintaining the races was the championship's primary objective, while having a contingency plan to shift the season finale to Imola if tensions continued to rise.

Discussions regarding the possible cancellation of both races have diminished in recent weeks, and the championship appears poised to retain both the Qatar and Abu Dhabi events. In MotoGP, teams have been informed that the rescheduled Qatar round will proceed in November.

In remarks to selected media, including Motorsport.com, Ben Sulayem conveyed that he feels "secure" about the upcoming races, noting that he wouldn’t leave his family in the Emirates if he believed it were unsafe.

"They're fine. One thing I would say, I have my children there - do you think I would leave them there, and I'm here now with you?

"You have to be sensible in this situation and ask, 'are we going to have an issue?' What you read in the media is not necessarily what we experience there. We see the news, but our reality is different. Otherwise, why would I stay there, you know? Why would I leave my family?

"But does this mean that nothing will happen? I can't predict that. All I can say today is that everything is fine and the two races are set to happen.

F1 cars lined up at the start of the race

"I am comfortable [with FIA staff going there]. Listen, I don't think the FIA staff are more important to me than my own family, but if I'm there, it means I feel secure about it.

"But we don't know for certain right now. As I mentioned regarding the Dakar [Rally in Saudi Arabia], if we receive any updates from them, we will adapt accordingly. When I say them, I mean the Federation of Motorsport in Saudi Arabia; we will cooperate with that and provide assistance.

"Similar to our support with Bahrain, when there was a request not to hold the event in Saudi Arabia, we received a call from the Crown Prince of Bahrain to move it to Malaysia. That relationship is significant and sends a message that, despite everything, motorsport will continue."

Ben Sulayem also mentioned that the FIA has contingency plans ready in case of travel disruptions, such as relying on local ASNs for volunteers and officials to help run the events.

He cited the example of the Lebanese round of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship, which successfully rebooted this year's series. This event was staffed by officials from Cyprus, Greece, and Jordan, before the Cypriot round concluded the championship after the cancellation of the Saudi Arabian round.

"Certainly, the FIA is always prepared. I’ve instructed them to have another team ready in case everything goes smoothly. However, some governments might impose travel restrictions - so what do we do? 

"If everyone is present, and the teams are there, and the FOM is managing it, but then we find ourselves without a race director or stewards, we must be prepared and have an alternate team ready just in case.

"We also apply common sense here and will never send our staff, drivers, or any officials to a location where we consider it risky," he concluded.

Ben Sulayem noted that the future of the 2027 Dakar Rally remains uncertain, but suggested it could be relocated to Morocco if hosting in Saudi Arabia becomes impossible.