F2 cargo returns to Europe instead of Middle East
"Qatar is supposedly already out"
Formula 1’s late-season Middle East plans remain deeply uncertain, with Imola increasingly looking like the near-certain fallback if Qatar and Abu Dhabi cannot go ahead.
Meanwhile, Formula 2 now appears increasingly likely to have already finished its season in Baku.
All F2 freight is being transported back to Europe rather than sent onwards towards Qatar, according to Frits van Amersfoort, founder of Formula 2 team Van Amersfoort Racing and now an adviser to the operation.
He told the Dutch broadcaster NOS that teams had already been informed there would be no replacement event if the remaining Qatar and Abu Dhabi rounds are cancelled.
"Normally, all cargo goes straight on to Qatar and then it sits on a quay somewhere there for eight weeks," he said.
"Now everything is coming here. So then you think: there is no more racing."
Van Amersfoort said the information circulating within F2 is that Qatar is effectively already lost, while Abu Dhabi remains unresolved.
"Qatar is supposedly already out, but Abu Dhabi is still up in the air," said the 70-year-old.
"Nobody knows for sure, but that final race is in early December, and if things remain calm, it could very well go ahead."
Formula 1’s own situation is different because Imola has been preparing as the contingency option, with the Italian circuit almost certain to step in if the Middle East finale cannot proceed.
That has left F2 teams puzzled as to why they would simply stop racing rather than follow F1 back to Europe.
"I haven’t understood that from the very beginning," Van Amersfoort said.
"If there is a replacement race in Imola in Formula 1, why don’t they include a replacement race for us there as well?"
The uncertainty has produced the extraordinary possibility that the Formula 2 championship is already over without anyone knowing for certain.
Rafael Camara leads Nikola Tsolov by 7 points, with Alex Dunne also still mathematically in contention.
"They raced in Baku as if it were the last race - it seemed like it was do or die," NOS analyst Jeroen Bleekemolen said.
"Wonderful to watch, but you also have to know where you stand."