logo
2026 F1 Calendar Bombshell: Canadian GP to Clash with Indy 500 in Epic Showdown

2026 F1 Calendar Bombshell: Canadian GP to Clash with Indy 500 in Epic Showdown

Yahoo21 hours ago

Peter Casey-Imagn Images
The 2026 F1 calendar dropped today, unveiling a packed lineup of races with bold changes that promise high-octane drama but have already sparked heated debate among fans and teams alike. It also revealed a first-ever for the sport: a head-to-head race against the Indy 500.
Advertisement
F1 and the FIA have revealed the schedule for the 2026 FIA Formula One World Championship, confirming another 24-round season. The championship will visit five continents, starting in Australia from March 6-8, 2026, and concluding in Abu Dhabi from December 4-6, 2026. The 2026 F1 season marks a new era with brand-new technical regulations and cars powered by 100% sustainable fuel. We'll also see big automotive names like Audi, Cadillac, and Ford joining the grid in various capacities.
Here are the changes to the 2026 F1 calendar, including a new race and some familiar circuits being reshuffled or eliminated from the schedule.
Related: Max Verstappen would be 'wise' to take 2026 off says former F1 champ
The 2026 F1 calendar changes have some steaming mad
Credit: F1
One of the most notable changes to the 2026 Formula 1 calendar is the debut of Madrid, which will take over as the host of the Spanish Grand Prix from September 11-13. With the addition of the race at the Madring, the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola has been dropped from the schedule for now. Imola's mayor has released a statement expressing disappointment but is hopeful for a future return.
Advertisement
'This is news we were aware of and which, understandably, generates questions, disappointment and bitterness, because in recent years our territory has demonstrated its ability to host an extraordinary event with record numbers,' said Imola mayor Marco Panieri in a released statement. 'The grand prix in Imola was one of the most loved and appreciated by fans and drivers, as demonstrated in the days following the event. However, we want to be very clear: this news does not represent the end of the story.'
Read More: 2025 F1 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix at Imola: Top 5 Storylines
Key shifts aimed at efficiency mean key date changes for F1
Credit: Mike DiNovo-Imagn Images
There are also some key shifts in timing with the new 2026 Formula 1 calendar aimed at improving the geographical flow and efficiency.
Advertisement
The Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal moves to May 22-24, following the Miami Grand Prix on May 1-3. This earlier slot in the 2026 Formula 1 calendar allows equipment to move more efficiently between the two North American events. Interestingly, the new date for the Canadian GP (May 24 weekend) means it will clash with the Indianapolis 500, traditionally held on the same weekend. The Monaco Grand Prix also shifts later, moving from its usual late May slot to June 5-7, kicking off a consolidated European leg of the season.
The 2026 Formula 1 calendar features familiar venues, including Silverstone (July 3-5), Spa-Francorchamps (July 17-19), and Monza (September 4-6), as well as three races in the USA at Miami, Austin, and Las Vegas. The season will again end with a triple-header in the Americas, followed by Las Vegas, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi.
Related: F1 Power Rankings 2025: Top 10 entering Canadian Grand Prix
Related Headlines

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Prime Tire: The other sad F1 race clash. Plus, McLaren struggles early in Canada
Prime Tire: The other sad F1 race clash. Plus, McLaren struggles early in Canada

New York Times

time35 minutes ago

  • New York Times

Prime Tire: The other sad F1 race clash. Plus, McLaren struggles early in Canada

Prime Tire Newsletter | This is The Athletic's twice-weekly F1 newsletter. Sign up here to receive Prime Tire directly in your inbox on Tuesday and Friday. Welcome back to Prime Tire, where the 2025 Canadian Grand Prix is getting underway on the same weekend as another major motorsport race. In the week when it was confirmed the 2026 Montreal race will clash directly with the 110th Indianapolis 500, which caused consternation for many motorsport followers, the 93rd Le Mans 24 Hours is also taking place. And next year, this famous race will now run on the same weekend as what could be Formula 1's final visit to Barcelona. I'm Alex, and Luke Smith will be along later, but here's what fans are missing in motorsport's other frustrating major race clash. McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown once told me that if he was being 'really greedy', he'd love for his orange teams to win F1's Monaco Grand Prix, the Indy 500 and Le Mans all in one year. Well, today that dream took a step closer to becoming reality when it was announced how McLaren's 2027 World Endurance Championship entry will work. Advertisement The Hypercar squad is going to be run by current Jaguar Formula E team boss James Barclay — a big motorsport fan in his own right and a historics racer to boot. He'd surely love to field either of Oscar Piastri or Lando Norris in McLaren's first Hypercar Le Mans appearance. But even for motorsport dreamers such as I, Nico Hulkenberg — who famously won Le Mans for Porsche while employed full-time in F1 back in 2015 — reckons the expanded F1 calendar makes this too tough an ask these days. No matter the glorious spread of good-looking cars, an iconic track and the emotion-sapping nature of a 24-hour race. 'Everyone was a lot less busy (in 2015),' the Sauber driver recently told Reuters. '24 races, all the stuff in between, it's a full-time job. I can only talk for myself but, personally, I wouldn't want the extra gig at the moment.' Fernando Alonso is the most recent full-time F1 driver to win Le Mans — in 2018 with Toyota. But more of the current crop want to follow in his footsteps than have a crack at Indy, which Alonso has also tried (and failed, three times) to win. Charles Leclerc wants to race at Le Mans with his brother Arthur, while Max Verstappen is committed to one day entering the race with his father. Ferrari goes into this weekend's race hoping for a third successive Le Mans win since its return to top-flight sportscar racing in 2023, but it's never going to sanction its long-term F1 star moonlighting in another category. Red Bull even once stopped Verstappen demonstrating an F1 car on the Nurburgring Nordschleife because it didn't want him pushing the limits on that fearsome track… Events directly clashing make dreams of F1 superstars racing elsewhere relentlessly impossible. The hyper-professional modern era means it's a contractual nightmare too. But that doesn't make such wishes any less valid. Advertisement F1 is celebrating the 75th anniversary of the formation of the world championship this year and not only were the drivers of yesteryear regular Le Mans entrants and winners, but for 11 years, the Indy 500 was itself on the F1 calendar. Far too quickly, such history is ignored and success in different categories is a brilliant way to demonstrate driving desire and racing versatility. Now, the annual bumper Le Mans and Indy crowds demonstrate the health of these races alongside F1's current might even with these clashes. That is excellent and this isn't an attempt to pit one series against another. As Jeff Gluck sagely noted, that's just a weird thing to do when you love racing cars. But one day again having F1 drivers — many endlessly sim racing anyway away from F1 events — blasting down the Mulsanne straight with the sun setting is still a thought worth savouring. And if in the coming years F1 and Le Mans can be prised apart, Verstappen, sorry, Franz Hermann, with his sportscar team already operational, would be my bet for the next grand prix star taking up the endurance racing challenge. Now, speaking of Max… There was always going to be a big crowd for Max Verstappen's media call yesterday in Montreal. It was the first time he'd spoken since the clash with George Russell in Spain that put him on the brink of a race ban. The obvious question was: would that change anything? It was so packed in Red Bull's hospitality unit that even for Yuki Tsunoda's prior media session, it quickly became standing room only. Once Tsunoda was done, Verstappen took his teammate's seat — and showed zero sign of any mentality shift. The first thing he mentioned as being different for this week was jet lag, not the fact that even a minor infraction between now and the Austrian Grand Prix later in June could lead to him being benched for a race. He just didn't have a lot to say about the possibility of such a ban, dodging a question about the merits of the penalty point system and then deadpanning it would be 'not ideal' if he were to be temporarily sidelined. Advertisement The clear message, both through Verstappen's words and his body language, is that he won't be changing. Yes, there was an acceptance that what happened in Spain wasn't right, as detailed in his social media post in the aftermath of that controversy. But the message was very much that he'll still be racing hard. And it's not like there's even a lot to lose if he were to miss a race, given his own bleak outlook for the 2025 championship given McLaren's advantage. It was all very predictable. As I wrote after Spain, Max will never change. It's got him this far. Don't expect the potential ban to be anything like enough of a deterrent for his uncompromising approach. But did we really expect anything different? Last week, I interviewed former Haas F1 team boss Guenther Steiner in The Athletic's London office. No-nonsense as ever — and without a single swear word — we caught up on what he's up to these days, 18 months after he left what will soon be one of two American squads on the grid. The standout newsline was that he could soon appear more frequently in yet another motorsport sphere. If negotiations with the Tech3 MotoGP team come to fruition on Steiner's investment offer, he could end up being team CEO. This could even end up being a full takeover of the team currently tied to the financially embattled KTM marque. But, Steiner being Steiner, the conversation was varied. Here's some highlights: Here are the main takeaways from today's on-track action in Canada: We're not running an F1 liveblog for this race weekend, but stay tuned when the action resumes at the always exciting Austrian round at the end of June. 💃 The controversial F175 season-opening show seems destined not to be repeated in 2026, according to this report. 💥 It's missing Kevin Magnussen's massive qualifying crash for Haas in 2019, but this rundown of famous shunts into Canada's Wall of Champions is always worth watching when F1 is in Montreal. Magnussen, racing for BMW at Le Mans this weekend, qualifies for that famous list as a Formula Renault 3.5 champion from 2013… 🇨🇦 What to know more about the groundhogs that usually appear during the Canadian GP weekend? Look no further than this comprehensive explanation from your Tuesday PT host Patrick Iversen. 📫 Love Prime Tire? Check out The Athletic's other newsletters.

MLB to Celebrate Shohei Ohtani, Other Japanese Players with Custom Manhole Covers
MLB to Celebrate Shohei Ohtani, Other Japanese Players with Custom Manhole Covers

Yahoo

timean hour ago

  • Yahoo

MLB to Celebrate Shohei Ohtani, Other Japanese Players with Custom Manhole Covers

MLB to Celebrate Shohei Ohtani, Other Japanese Players with Custom Manhole Covers originally appeared on Athlon Sports. Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani and Chicago Cubs slugger Seiya Suzuki are among 12 active Japanese MLB players that will be celebrated with custom manhole covers in Japan beginning June 16. Advertisement Per an article, the 12 custom manhole covers featuring one player in each design, will be installed at locations in Japan associated with that's player's roots in baseball. St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Lars Nootbaar, who represented the Japan National team in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, will also be one of the 12 players celebrated. Nootbaar, whose mother is of Japanese descent, will have his cover installed on Monday, June 23 in Higashimatsuyama City, Saitama Prefecture. In seven games for Team Japan during their 2023 WBC title run, Nootbaar slashed .269/.424/.269 with four RBIs, six walks and two stolen bases. Advertisement This season with the Cardinals, Nootbaar got off to a hot start but has cooled off this month. He's hitting just .128 in June with 15 strikeouts, and is marred in a 1-for-27 slump in his last seven games. Japan center fielder Lars Nootbaar (23) and team Japan celebrate after defeating the USA in the World Baseball ClassicRhona Wise-Imagn Images Each of the manhole covers were designed by different artists and a video depicting how they were made can be seen here. The full installation schedule and locations for the custom manhole covers are as follows: June 16 – Shohei Ohtani: Oshu City, Iwate Prefecture June 16 – Yusei Kikuchi: Morioka City, Iwate Prefecture June 16 – Roki Sasaki: Rikuzentakata City, Iwate Prefecture June 17 – Yu Darvish: Habikino City, Osaka Prefecture Advertisement June 18 – Yuki Matsui: Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture June 19 – Shota Imanaga: Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka Prefecture June 23 – Lars Nootbaar: Higashimatsuyama City, Saitama Prefecture June 24 – Seiya Suzuki: Arakawa Ward, Tokyo June 25 – Yoshinobu Yamamoto: Bizen City, Okayama Prefecture June 26 – Masataka Yoshida: Fukui City, Fukui Prefecture June 27 – Kodai Senga: Gamagori City, Aichi Prefecture June 29 – Tomoyuki Sugano: Sagamihara City, Kanagawa Prefecture This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 13, 2025, where it first appeared.

Ferrari boss hits back at Italian media spreading rumours: ‘Too much is too much'
Ferrari boss hits back at Italian media spreading rumours: ‘Too much is too much'

Hamilton Spectator

timean hour ago

  • Hamilton Spectator

Ferrari boss hits back at Italian media spreading rumours: ‘Too much is too much'

MONTREAL - Fred Vasseur made a brief cameo in the 'F1' blockbuster movie coming to theatres this month. The Ferrari team principal wonders if the big-screen audition might help him land a second career in acting, since so many Italian newspapers are calling for his ousting. 'I'm looking for a new job,' he said, filling a news conference room with laughter Friday at the Canadian Grand Prix. Multiple reports suggest Vasseur's future is under threat at Ferrari as top-tier drivers Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc fall short of race wins so far this season. Some outlets have also written that Leclerc might take his talents to another garage. And speculation that the 40-year-old Hamilton might retire is routine — even though he's only just joined Ferrari on a multi-year contract. 'I have to stay calm, because I will have to finish at the stewards,' Vasseur said, hoping not to get fined. 'It's some Italian media, it's not all Italian media. 'I don't understand the target. Perhaps it's to give (crap) to the team, but in this case, I don't see the point. Perhaps it's for them the only way to exist. This is probably more the reason, but it's really hurting the team.' Vasseur joined Ferrari in 2023 and came 17 points shy of securing its first constructors' championship since 2008 last year. The prestigious Italian outfit — with a record 16 titles — is on a quest to return to its past dominance and had expectations of competing for a championship this season. Ferrari, however, trails McLaren by 197 points despite ranking second in the constructors' standings heading into Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix — the 10th stop of the 24-race circuit. For reference, a driver earns 25 points for one win. Hamilton, a seven-time world champion, joined Ferrari in a highly anticipated move last winter but has yet to reach the podium in red. He and Leclerc — who has reached three podiums — rank sixth and fifth, respectively, in the drivers' championship. Despite his relatively slow start with Ferrari, Hamilton came to the defence of his boss Thursday. 'I do believe Fred is the person to take us to the top,' he said. 'To me, it's all nonsense what people have written.' 'And also, to everyone writing stories of me considering not racing — I literally only just started here with Ferrari. I'm here for several years, and I'm here for the long haul,' he later added. 'There's zero doubts. Please stop making stuff up.' As for the Leclerc rumours, the Monégasque driver was shocked to hear them. Leclerc is racing in his seventh season with Ferrari and under a long-term contract. 'I have no idea where it's coming from,' Leclerc said. 'I've never said anything of this in the last few races. If anything, I keep saying how much I love the team and how much I want to bring back Ferrari to the top.' Added Vasseur: 'Each single interview from the beginning of the season, he is telling that he wants to stay with Ferrari, he wants to win with Ferrari, his future is with Ferrari. But every single Monday we have an article telling that, 'Ah, Charles will go next year.'' Even former Ferrari pilot Carlos Sainz Jr., who Hamilton replaced as Leclerc's teammate, chimed in. 'The moment that the results don't click in Ferrari, there's always finger-pointing by the media, and all this chaos happening,' said Sainz, who now races for Williams. Leclerc finished third last time out at the Spanish Grand Prix, while Hamilton placed sixth. Hamilton said both drivers had issues 'hindering us massively' midway through the race, calling it 'the worst-feeling car I'd ever had.' Ferrari has apparently solved the issue heading into the Canadian Grand Prix, although Friday's first free practice was far from ideal. Leclerc crashed his front left wheel into the wall at Turn 4 less than 10 minutes into the session. He needed a new chassis and missed the second free practice. 'None of us is satisfied with how it's going at the moment, that's clear. We came into the season thinking that we had chances to challenge McLaren and Red Bull in order to win the championship,' Leclerc said Thursday. 'If we compare ourselves to our other competitors, apart from McLaren, it's not like we are having a shocking season. 'We just need to find ourselves as well, just like Mercedes, just like Red Bull, needs to find the outstanding thing that McLaren have found.' Mercedes' George Russell posted the fastest lap in the second free practice at one minute 12.123 seconds, followed by McLaren's Lando Norris (1:12.151) and Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli (1:12.411). Hamilton drove around Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in 1:12.653 — the eighth fastest time — on a sunny, 19 C day in Montreal. Another session takes place Saturday afternoon before qualifying. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 13, 2025.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store