Silverstone has formally offered Formula 1 a second 2026 race, stepping forward to fill the gap left by the cancelled Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix and quietly raising the prospect of a 24-round calendar for the first time in months.
Silverstone managing director Stuart Pringle confirmed the offer, framing it as a continuation of the role the British circuit played during the COVID-affected season of 2020. F1 lost two events in April when Bahrain and Saudi Arabia were pulled because of conflict in the Middle East, opening a five-week hole in the schedule and reportedly costing the sport more than $100 million in lost revenue.
"I pride myself on not having spare windows, but everything is movable in a crisis," Pringle said.
He added that the British venue would step up the way it did during the pandemic, when Silverstone hosted the British Grand Prix and the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix on consecutive weekends. "I have offered, because we stepped in during covid and we were able to help Formula 1," Pringle said. "And if that would help them, of course we will."
Whether F1 takes Silverstone up on the proposal will depend on a separate moving piece. Saudi Arabia is still being lined up for a possible return inside an unprecedented end-of-year quadruple header, with Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi already locked in. If that materialises, the calendar would be restored to 24 events without a second British round.
The wider 2027 calendar reshuffle is also taking shape and contains another headline change. The Australian Grand Prix, the traditional opener of the modern era, is set to be moved to round three next year. An earlier Ramadan window means F1 wants to begin 2027 with a Bahrain and Saudi Arabia double header in the Middle East, leaving Melbourne to slot in afterwards.
Australia's commercial position is protected. The 2022 contract extension with the Albert Park promoter included a clause guaranteeing Melbourne a minimum of five season-opening slots through to 2037. Three of those have already been used. The remaining pair are expected to be deployed during the back half of the deal, with Melbourne guaranteed to be one of the first three races every year regardless of who opens.
Australia and China are still being treated as a fixed double header, while the returning Portuguese and Turkish events are set to be twinned with neighbouring races to keep freight costs down. The end of 2027 is on course to repeat the 2026 finish, with another transcontinental triple header taking the championship from Las Vegas to Qatar to Abu Dhabi.
Pringle's offer is, in some ways, simply good politics. Silverstone has just signed a long-term hosting deal with F1 and is investing heavily in pit and paddock upgrades to be delivered in time for the 2030 regulations. Volunteering for an extra round, even one that may never happen, signals that Britain's host venue is willing to do whatever the calendar needs.
But it is also a quiet reminder of how exposed F1's calendar has become. The April break that opened up after the Middle East cancellations was unprecedented. Sponsors and broadcasters have spent five weeks waiting. F1's chief executive Stefano Domenicali has previously argued that 24 races is the championship's preferred number. Pringle's intervention shows there is still at least one promoter willing to bend its own diary to keep that figure intact.
For now, the British venue's role for 2026 remains a single race. The contingency, however, is in the system. Should Saudi Arabia not return, Silverstone is the most likely beneficiary, and the words used by its managing director will not be quickly forgotten in the F1 commercial office.
"Everything is movable in a crisis," Pringle said. F1 may yet need that to be true.
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*Originally published on [News Formula 1](https://newsformula.one/article/silverstone-offers-second-2026-f1-race-pringle-everything-movable-crisis). Visit for full coverage.*
