Formula E will start new season in Mexico if Saudi opener cannot be held

LONDON, Aug 6 : Formula E is confident its 2026-27 season will start in Saudi Arabia in December but can push back the opening race to Mexico in January if events in the region dictate, the all-electric racing series' chief executive Jeff Dodds said on Thursday.

The Liberty Global-controlled championship is due to start a new Gen4 era with two races in Jeddah on December 18-19, before Mexico City on January 16.

Formula One and the World Rally Championship are due to end their seasons in the Middle East in November and December, the latter series in Saudi Arabia on November 11-14, but have said they will take a decision in mid-September for logistical reasons.

Formula One cancelled April rounds in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia due to the Iran war, with Bahrain now rescheduled for Malaysia in October.

F1 boss Stefano Domenicali has said a decision on the November and December races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi will be taken next month and the season will end at a European circuit if they cannot happen.

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis have imposed a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea, with some attacks on tankers, since July in response to what they described as a Saudi siege on Yemen, an allegation Riyadh has denied.

The Iran war began in February when the United States and Israel attacked Iran and Tehran responded with its own strikes on Israel and Gulf states that host U.S. bases.

"We talk to the kingdom on a very regular basis and obviously we're monitoring what's happening in that part of the world," Dodds told reporters ahead of the season's title-deciding finale in London on August 15-16. 

"Of course the situation changes so rapidly that monitoring it in July, August when you've got a race in December is maybe not that helpful.