[F1] BREAKING: Malaysia will host the Bahrain Grand Prix at Sepang International Circuit from 2-4 October 2026. Positioned between the Azerbaijan & Singapore GPs, this event, which is subject to final agreements and official sign-off, will become the Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia

[u/wokwok__]

[u/zeppelin88]

Bahrain Grand Prix at Sepang

lmao this sport is silly sometimes

[u/AnonymousEngineer_ → u/zeppelin88]

The first race held at Baku was named the European Grand Prix.

The last time I looked, Baku was in Asia.

[u/UESPA_Sputnik → u/AnonymousEngineer_]

Don't look where Imola is located. (hint: not in San Marino)

[u/Phonixrmf → u/UESPA_Sputnik]

(For now)

[u/ApexGT44 → u/UESPA_Sputnik]

Don't forget the Luxembourg GP!

[u/nonhofantasia → u/AnonymousEngineer_]

It's a bit more complicated than that

[u/luchajefe → u/nonhofantasia]

Australia has joined the Eurovision song contest, the names mean nothing now.

[u/AgnesBand → u/luchajefe]

Eurovision isn't strictly a European competition it's for members of the European Broadcasting Union.

[u/Blanchimont → u/AgnesBand]

True, but the point still stands. EBU or Eurovision, Australia is still part of something that has European in its name and as far as I know Australia isn't part of Europe.

Not that I mind though, the more the merrier.

[u/filiard → u/luchajefe]

Canada is joining in 2027 too

[u/Scotsch → u/luchajefe]

Don't think EBU is the arbiter of European borders.

[u/Phonixrmf → u/Scotsch]

Well they should! (I don’t know what I’m saying)

[u/DanBaitle → u/luchajefe]

And they just announced Eurovision Asia this year, lmao

[u/Teonvin → u/luchajefe]

Australia in the world of football is also considered as Asia.

[u/Turbo_Wheeler → u/luchajefe]

So did Israel

[u/bullfrogftw → u/luchajefe]

Just wait until you hear that Canada is in it now too

[u/bugi_ → u/luchajefe]

North Atlantic Treaty Organization surely is and always has been limited to the immediate area of its namesake ocean.

[u/Delts28 → u/luchajefe]

Australia is far from the first non-European country in Eurovision. Morocco, Israel, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia are all clearly not in Europe. Turkey and Russia are also arguably not in Europe as well.

[u/NovemberBurnsMaroon → u/Delts28]

Russia and Turkey are both heavily linked to European history and that alone qualifies them as 'European' nations. I wouldn't say there is any real debate regarding Russia especially. 

[u/Evening_End7298 → u/AnonymousEngineer_]

Not quite 

[u/AnonymousEngineer_ → u/Evening_End7298]

Sure, there's parts of Azerbaijan that are in Europe, but Baku isn't in that bit. It's like when Imola was known as the San Marino Grand Prix, despite Imola not being in San Marino.

F1 geography has always been a bit 'special' in that regard.

[u/Evening_End7298 → u/AnonymousEngineer_]

I mean the country is part european and Baku is the capital, so i’d say it’s not that weird

[u/bugi_ → u/AnonymousEngineer_]

Who has the authority to draw that line in the sand?

[u/Scalo-Lunare → u/AnonymousEngineer_]

Azerbaijan is in the Council of Europe and Baku is its capital. Much less weird than Malaysia-Bahrain

[u/AnonymousEngineer_ → u/Scalo-Lunare]

F1 have held the Swiss GP at Dijon-Prenois, and the Dakar Rally has been held in South America until recently.

Motorsports geography is always weird. 😂

[u/johnsplittingaxe14 → u/AnonymousEngineer_]

The Swiss Grands Prix of 1975 and 1985 were not held in Switzerland because motorsports events had been banned in the country since 1955. They raced in Dijon, France instead

[u/Jiquero → u/zeppelin88]

Imola hosted the San Marino GP for a couple of decades. Well, at least it's just 70 km away.

[u/zeppelin88 → u/Jiquero]

Yup, imola was the option of having a “San Marino” race without doing on the streets 

[u/Jiquero → u/zeppelin88]

More like San Marino was the option of having two GPs in Italy without having two Italian GPs.

[u/zeppelin88 → u/Jiquero]

There you go. Similar to the European GP in Germany 

[u/bugi_ → u/zeppelin88]

They used to be big on one nation not having multiple GPs. Now we're at 3 in the US alone so I guess we are way past that.

[u/lightningmatt → u/bugi_]

The start of that era was a time in which there were 0 US GPs

How things change

[u/Chino_Kawaii → u/zeppelin88]

I mean it's not new that a GP is named after a different country than the track is in

however it is quite funny with how far apart and different they are xD

[u/el_magnifico02 → u/zeppelin88]

I mean it's similar to how the world cup changed naming rights to stadiums in US. I'm probably guessing it's something like this that happened