Formula 1 is set to cancel April's races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia due to the ongoing Iran war, sources confirmed to ESPN.
F1 was due to race in Bahrain on April 12 and in Saudi Arabia on April 19.
Both countries have been struck during Iran's response after the United States and Israel launched a wave of attacks on Iran.
Despite not knowing whether the conflict would be ongoing by the time their event dates roll around, a decision needed to be made imminently due to the logistics of when teams had to start sending freight to the Middle East for both events.
The cancellations will mean F1 will have four straight weeks between the Japanese Grand Prix on March 29 and Miami Grand Prix on May 3 without a race.
They will also drop the season's calendar from 24 to 22 events.
Sources have told ESPN there will be no replacement races arranged in this time due to the difficulties of doing so at short notice.
It is also unlikely F1 will attempt to re-arrange either for later in the year, although sources said F1 is trying to keep its options open should the situation in the Middle East change. However, the tight schedule means this is unlikely.
F1 is also reluctant to re-arrange a race, only to be forced to cancel it again, especially if doing so helped dictate the outcome of a championship.
The Middle East races are both close to areas which have been subjected to missile strikes recently.
A U.S. naval base and residential buildings in Bahrain capital Manama were hit just one week after Formula 1 had been in the country for preseason testing at the same venue set to host the race. Many teams stay in Manama for the race.
Some F1 team personnel were still in the country at the time for a Pirelli tyre test at the circuit, which was subsequently cancelled.
Speaking in Shanghai on Thursday ahead of this weekend's Chinese Grand Prix, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton expressed faith in F1 to make the right decision.
He said: "I know that [F1 CEO] Stefano [Domenicali] will do what is right for all of us and the sport.
"That is the great thing with having a great leader like him."
Sources have told ESPN that the call to cancel Bahrain was straightforward, but Saudi's race was less so.
The Saudis were pushing for their race to go ahead as normal but F1 did not want to risk a situation where an escalation closer to the race took place with freight and personnel already in the country.
The Saudi Arabian GP infamously went ahead in 2022 despite a missile attack on a nearby Aramco oil depot by Yemen's Houthi rebels while a practice session was taking place at the circuit.
On that occasion, drivers did not want to continue but were convinced to go ahead by F1 and the Saudi race organisers after a four-hour meeting.
While that was an attack which occurred without warning during a race weekend already underway, F1 knew with the existing situation in Iran the safety risks were too high to go back to Saudi this time around.
Formula 1 has three other races in the region which might encounter knock on effects later in the year should the conflict still be ongoing.
Azerbaijan shares a border with Iran and hosts a race in Baku on September 26.
The F1 season is due to end with two Middle East races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.
Sources have told ESPN that none are considered "at risk" at the moment, although there is a general unease among teams in the paddock about flying to the Middle East while the current situation exists.
As with the call to cancel Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, F1 would make a call nearer the time with those if needed based on the circumstances at the time.
PA contributed to this report.