This weekend, when Audi Revolut F1® Team lines up on the grid for the 2026 Bahrain Grand Prix, it does so some 6,000km from Bahrain, at Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia.

The 2026 Bahrain Grand Prix was originally scheduled to take place in April but ongoing unrest in the area meant that the race, along with the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, was called off. In July, however, it was announced that the Bahrain Grand Prix would take place and that a deal struck between Formula 1 and the governments of Bahrain and Malaysia would see the event be held at Sepang International Circuit, in Malaysia.

This weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia will mark the first time in 20 years that a country has hosted another country’s Formula 1® race.

Imola first joined the Formula 1 calendar in 1980, when it staged the Italian Grand Prix. Monza had been unavailable to stage the event that year, which remains the only time that the so-called Temple of Speed did not appear on the World Championship calendar.

Monza was always set to re-join the calendar as host of the Italian Grand Prix in 1981 after refurbishment work put it out of action for 1980 – but Imola’s race had proven popular. As each country could have only one national Grand Prix per year, a new name for the event needed to be found.

One year after San Marino staged Italy’s race, there was another unusual occurrence on the F1® calendar. Motorsport had been banned in Switzerland ever since the Le Mans disaster in 1955, but the Swiss Automobile Club was still active. In 1975, it had staged a non-championship Swiss Grand Prix at Dijon, 200km north of the Swiss border in France.

Seven years later, the race was held again – and this time it had World Championship status. A rise in French drivers had prompted increased interest in Formula 1 in France, so having a second race in the country was a no-brainer.

The 1982 Swiss Grand Prix marked Keke Rosberg’s first Grand Prix win. It would turn out to be his only victory in his title-winning season.

In both 1995 and 1996, Germany’s Nurburgring had held the European Grand Prix. However, the 1997 European Grand Prix was to be held at the Jerez circuit in Spain at the end of the season due to that year’s Portuguese Grand Prix having been cancelled.

The Nurburgring had also previously hosted the German Grand Prix, but that title was already taken by Hockenheim, where the event had taken place in almost every season since 1977. Instead, with the track located 80km from the Luxembourg border, the Nurburgring’s 1997 and 1998 races were titled the “Luxembourg Grand Prix”.

The Nurburgring holds the unusual honour of being the only F1® circuit which has hosted races with four different titles. After staging the German, European and Luxembourg Grands Prix, the Nurburgring made a one-off return to the F1® calendar in 2020 to host the Eifel Grand Prix, named after the nearby mountain range.

Formula 1® race naming conventions are usually straightforward: the race is named after the country in which it is taking place. But there are other instances where that is not the case. The earliest example is the 1957 Pescara Grand Prix, at Italy’s Pescara Circuit. The Italian Grand Prix took place at Monza, so this race – which took place on the longest-ever circuit F1® raced on – was named after the Pescara province in which it was held.

There are other races which have been named after regions rather than countries. Japan’s Aida circuit hosted the “Pacific Grand Prix” in 1994 and 1995, while Mugello hosted the one-off “Tuscan Grand Prix” in 2020. Meanwhile the “European Grand Prix” title was used by a number of circuits throughout F1® history, most recently by Baku City Circuit on its first calendar appearance back in 2016.

There are other races which have been named after regions rather than countries. Japan’s Aida circuit hosted the “Pacific Grand Prix” in 1994 and 1995, while Mugello hosted the one-off “Tuscan Grand Prix” in 2020. Meanwhile the “European Grand Prix” title was used by a number of circuits throughout F1® history, most recently by Baku City Circuit on its first calendar appearance back in 2016.

In recent years, races which were previously named after the host country – like races in Brazil and Mexico – are now named after the host city – São Paulo and Mexico City – following financial investment from the local governments.

The sport’s newest additions in the United States – Miami and Las Vegas – have also been named after their host cities, with the United States Grand Prix title remaining in possession of Austin’s Circuit of The Americas. Similar naming conventions were in place in F1®’s earlier history in the United States, with races named after Dallas, Detroit and even the Caesars Palace hotel in Las Vegas.

In the coronavirus-impacted 2020 season, a number of circuits – namely Silverstone, Red Bull Ring and Bahrain International Circuit – hosted two races each, with each race taking a different name. The Red Bull Ring was home to the Austrian and Steiermark Grands Prix, while Bahrain International Circuit was host to the Bahrain and Sakhir Grands Prix, the latter held on the shorter Outer Loop layout of the track.

Silverstone’s second race in 2020 has perhaps the most unusual name of any Grand Prix in World Championship history. Celebrating 70 years since the first round of the World Championship, the second Silverstone race was titled the “70^th Anniversary Grand Prix”. It is the only Formula 1 event to date which was not named after a physical location.