A Historic F1 venue’s bold bid to get a race revealed

Prior to the official announcement from Formula 1 that the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix would be cancelled, as well as them not being replaced – there was talk of subsidising them with the likes of Imola or Portimão.

However, it has been revealed that a bold pitch was made to F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali, for the sport to return to a historic venue which it had not visited in over three decades.

South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas in speaking on radio show Triple M, brought to light his phone call with Domenicali on which he pitched an F1 return to Adelaide as a replacement for the cancelled Middle Eastern races.

“As soon as it became obvious that they were not going to be racing in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, I was like, ‘Hello! Is this an opportunity?’, said the Premier.

“I’ve been working on this for a while. When the events got cancelled because of the Iran war, I was straight on the phone to them.

“It just so happens when I contacted him, Eddie McGuire was with him at the same time.”

McGuire, the former president of the Collingwood Football Club in the AFL sparked the initial speculation of an Adelaide bid to host F1, when speaking on another local radio station FiveAA.

“If we had stitched this up, people would have known about it a little while ago,” Malinauskas continued.

“I put it out to them, and I said ‘I’ve got the team, they’ve worked the numbers, we can set track up on these timelines’, and they said ‘Look, leave it with us’.

“But they’ve decided to cancel those races and not replace them.”

Adelaide hosted the Australian Grand Prix from 1985 to 1995, before it was sensationally lured away from the South Australian capital to Melbourne – where it has celebrated its 30^th year in 2026.

Melbourne’s Albert Park circuit is contracted with F1 till at least 2037, though it hasn’t stopped rival cities inciting rumours over the years to pry the Australian Grand Prix away from Victoria.

Even this bid from Adelaide – on a substitution basis or not – can be seen as political posturing from Malinauskas, who is up for re-election this weekend. One of the key wins that allegedly brought the Labor candidate into power back in 2022 was his promise to bring back the defunct Adelaide 500 Supercars event – which he did and to great success.

And in 2026, the biggest coup to date for the South Australian government has been the acquisition of MotoGP from 2027. Ending Phillip Island’s tenure as Australia’s home of MotoGP which dated back to 1989.

Though with F1 electing to not replace the Bahrain and Saudi races, the Adelaide concept seems like a moot point for what would’ve been a logistical nightmare away – nostalgia aside.

F1 now will have a hiatus through April, following the Japanese Grand Prix on March 29. Before returning to Miami on May 3.

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Written by

Jawad Yaqub

An eCommerce Specialist by day and reporting on F1 by night. Jawad is passionate about motorsport, having provided accredited F1 coverage for more than a decade. Live blogging (almost) every grand prix too since 2014, as well as articles on the Supercars Championship. Also keen on sustainability, photography, collecting vinyl, (trying to) expertly barbeque and learning to Dad.

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