​Formula 1’s 2026 season could finish in Las Vegas, not in the Middle East or Italy. GPBlog understands that teams have been told the last date for approving a replacement race at Imola is 10 November. That is the Tuesday after the São Paulo Grand Prix. If Qatar and Abu Dhabi are called off after that date, there would be no replacement round.As it stands, neither Gulf race has been cancelled, and there has been no official decision to bring in Imola or to end the championship in Las Vegas as F1 waits to identify the geopolitical position in the Middle EastImola deadline leaves little room for a December finaleAs things stand, Qatar is scheduled for 29 November and Abu Dhabi for 6 December. The Imola fallback would put on a single race on 6 December, the Abu Dhabi date, so two rounds would be replaced by one. A 10 November decision would give Imola’s organisers less than four weeks to finish their preparations and seemingly meaning that any alternative venue would not have significant time to prepare to host an F1 race.This is not the first cut-off date the paddock has heard. In September, team bosses said the decision would come in mid-October. Audi’s Mattia Binotto told reporters in Baku: “As we discussed during the F1 Commission last Monday, mid-October is the last call for such a decision.” That point passed with F1 still planning to race in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, and with Imola kept on standby.Yamaha’s MotoGP boycott raises the stakes for F1The reported deadline comes in the same week that Yamaha withdrew from MotoGP’s Qatar round, yet a letter went to all teams during the Mexico City weekend saying F1 still plans to end the season with the Middle East double-header.Teams say they are being kept informed. Williams team principal James Vowles was asked about the finale at the end of last week and said governing bodies have contingencies in place.What I would say is F1 and the FIA have been very good at providing us updates, and they have an A plan, B plan, C plan.That leaves three possible endings: the Gulf double-header goes ahead, Imola holds a single finale on 6 December, or the season ends in Las Vegas. With the reported deadline falling two days after the São Paulo Grand Prix, team bosses are likely to be asked about it at Interlagos this week.