Key takeaways from F1's 2026 schedule: Streamlined start, a ratings test and a punishing close
The 2025 Formula One season hasn't even reached its halfway point yet, but the schedule for next year's campaign was released Tuesday, with a few notable changes as F1 works to regionalize the schedule and make progress toward its net-zero carbon goals.
We'll still have 24 grand prix weekends, with Australia opening the calendar and the season finale taking place at Abu Dhabi once again. But there are changes, like the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix officially falling off the slate and Madrid's new circuit making its debut. Having two Spanish races meant that Barcelona and Madrid needed to be spaced out, with the well-known testing circuit near the start of the European stretch, while the newer track will end that portion of the calendar.
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The Canadian Grand Prix is also moving from its June slot to May, a few weeks after the Miami Grand Prix and clashing with the iconic Indianapolis 500. This move comes after Montreal and Monaco swapped positions, and it does help from a logistical standpoint — the races are now geographically closer in sequence. And then there's the case of the schedule ending with consecutive tripleheaders, a run that starts with the United States Grand Prix on October 25 and ends with the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on December 6.
We dive into these and more developments in our 2026 F1 calendar takeaways below.
It's a peculiar move to schedule the Canadian Grand Prix on Memorial Day weekend, the well-known home of the Indianapolis 500. For years, the Greatest Spectacle in Racing has been held on that weekend, whether it be on Sunday or actually on Memorial Day Monday. And for more than two decades, the Monaco Grand Prix has run on Sunday, creating what some call 'Motorsports Christmas.'
F1 kicked it off with the Monaco GP during the East Coast morning while IndyCar held the midday slot with the Indy 500. NASCAR closed out the day with the Coca-Cola 600, creating a full day of racing for motorsports fans. However, to regionalize the calendar, F1 swapped the positions of Monaco and Montreal, the latter of which typically interrupted the European leg of the schedule. Monaco has moved to June, while the Canadian GP will take place in May, three weekends after the Miami Grand Prix and on Memorial Day weekend.
The plot twist is that F1 and IndyCar will be racing on the same day, in the same time zone. The start times for next year's races are not yet public, but if the two series stick with this year's timings, the races will overlap. The green flag was scheduled to wave for the Indy 500 at 12:45 p.m. ET, and the 2025 Canadian GP starts at 2 p.m. ET this Sunday.
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It's a choice to schedule the Montreal race on the same day, threatening to clash with the Indy 500. It's hard to imagine there won't be an impact on American audience viewership numbers. According to Nielsen's Fast National ratings, a whopping 7.05 million people tuned in to the Indy 500, the largest audience in 17 years, and Fox Sports reported that it peaked at 8.4 million viewers. According to ESPN, ABC's live broadcast of the 2024 Canadian Grand Prix drew a record 1.8 million viewers.
The absence of any tripleheaders until the latter part of the season (we'll get to that shortly) will be welcome news for the F1 paddock, particularly off the back of what looks set to be an incredibly short winter.
The all-new cars for 2026 will require more testing, meaning the first outings are set for the end of January in Barcelona, with three three-day run-outs planned. But once we get into the thick of the season, things do ease up a fraction.
Australia and China coming forward a week means Japan can be a standalone race, instead of forming a tough tripleheader with Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, as was the case this year. The Middle East pairing is then followed by Miami and Canada, which, separated by three weeks, also gives the paddock a bit of respite.
Imola dropping off the calendar also opens up more space once the European season starts, meaning we again avoid a tripleheader before the summer break. And it's a gentle resumption with the final Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort also becoming a standalone instead of linking up with Italy and Madrid.
There does end up being a price to pay, but compared to 2025, the first two-thirds of next year's schedule is at least a little bit kinder on the paddock.
A run of six race weekends in seven weeks isn't new for F1.
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The most recent time the sport had a stretch close to that at the end of the calendar was in 2024, though it was across eight weeks, as there was a two-week break between Brazil and Las Vegas. And there were concerns in 2023 about the sustainability of the F1 calendar given the realization it would end on a double tripleheader the following year, as the race weekend schedules get busier and busier.
While this scheduling layout didn't repeat in 2025, with São Paulo breaking off into a standalone race, ending on a double tripleheader would have been hard to avoid next year.
The two Spanish races required creative scheduling, as Barcelona and Madrid could not occur near each other during the European stretch of the season. This isn't unusual, either. With Italy's two races, Imola traditionally was earlier in the calendar, while Monza took place after the summer break in recent years. Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya's contract is through 2026, and it is staying within the same relative ballpark date, even with Monaco and Canada moving. This meant Madrid needed to be in the latter portion of the European calendar.
Madrid becoming the closer pushed the remainder of the calendar back a week, as that's now three races in four weeks after the summer break. Austin, Mexico City and São Paulo become a triple once again, but only one week separates Brazil from Las Vegas — and then the paddock heads back to the Middle East for Qatar and Abu Dhabi.
The sport's growing popularity creates a balance issue: Creating a globalized and regionalized schedule and factoring in the well-being of everyone working in the paddock. No matter what, it'll be a grueling and demanding end to the year.
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