
F1 confirms 2026 calendar with bumper European section
Formula 1 has revealed its 2026 calendar, featuring 24 races with Madrid debuting as the Spanish Grand Prix host until at least 2035.
The Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix at Imola has been cut from the calendar to accommodate Madrid and streamline the European section of races.
Canada 's Grand Prix is moved to May 22-24, following Miami on May 1-3, to improve freight efficiency and reduce carbon emissions.
F1 will maintain a continuous European segment from Monaco in early June to Madrid on September 13, before heading to Azerbaijan on September 25-27.
The 2026 season will start in Melbourne, Australia on March 6-8 and conclude in Abu Dhabi on December 4-6, with the British Grand Prix scheduled for July 3-5.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Powys County Times
27 minutes ago
- Powys County Times
Charles Leclerc crashes out of Canada first practice as Max Verstappen sets pace
Charles Leclerc crashed out of opening practice for the Canadian Grand Prix as Max Verstappen set the early pace in Montreal. Verstappen, who is a point away from a one-race ban following his collision with Mercedes' George Russell at the recent Spanish Grand Prix, ended the session just 0.039 seconds clear of Williams driver Alex Albon. Carlos Sainz finished third in the other Williams with Russell fourth and Lewis Hamilton fifth. Lando Norris was only seventh while his McLaren team-mate and championship leader Oscar Piastri finished down the order in 14th. 🔴 RED FLAG 🔴 Leclerc into the barriers. He's okay #F1 #CanadianGP — Formula 1 (@F1) June 13, 2025 Verstappen, who heads into this weekend's race 49 points behind Piastri in the standings, produced the quickest time in the opening action of the weekend at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve to lay down an early marker. But Leclerc's preparations for the 10th round of the campaign were dealt a blow when he suffered a heavy accident with just nine laps on the board. The Monegasque crashed into the barrier on the entry to turn four and sustained significant damage to the left-hand side of his Ferrari. The force of the impact sent him sideways and across the other side of the chicane. 'F***,' said Leclerc on the radio. 'Sorry, I am in the wall. My bad. I should have gone straight but I thought I would make the corner and I hit the wall.' Leclerc's Ferrari mechanics will now face a race against time to ensure his car is ready for the concluding practice session of the day which begins at 17:00 local time (22:00 BST). The session was red-flagged for eight minutes as Leclerc's stricken Ferrari was retrieved and repairs to the barriers were completed. As Verstappen launched his Red Bull to the top of the order, Norris appeared to be struggling with the handling of his McLaren and finished 0.458 seconds behind the Dutchman. Piastri, who has won five of the nine rounds so far and leads Norris by 10 points, was even further back, one second off Verstappen's pace.


Powys County Times
27 minutes ago
- Powys County Times
Makers of new F1 film say they could not have done it without Lewis Hamilton
The makers of Formula One's new Hollywood blockbuster said they could not have made their film without the input of Lewis Hamilton. Seven-time world champion Hamilton is an executive producer on the Brad Pitt movie, titled 'F1', which is released in the United Kingdom on June 25. Hamilton has been heavily involved in the script – which sees 61-year-old Pitt play the role of veteran driver Sonny Hayes returning to the F1 grid after a long absence – to ensure the film is as authentic as possible. Joseph Kosinski, the man behind Top Gun: Maverick and director of the F1 movie, said at this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix: 'Lewis was the first person I reached out to when I had the initial idea for this. 'I sent him an email and just said, 'I want to tell a story in your world. I want to make it as authentic as possible. Will you help me?' And luckily Lewis said 'Yes'. 'He was involved in all the technical details with fascinating advice. In Hungary, for instance, he said, 'If Brad's going to let someone pass during a blue flag and he wants it to be as tight as possible, he's going to only do that at turn six'. SNEAK PEEK: The APXGP team meet for the first time! 👀 #F1TheMovie – only in theatres late June Get tickets now: 🎟️ #F1 — Formula 1 (@F1) June 11, 2025 'That kind of detail from a seven-time world champion who lives and breathes this world every day, I couldn't have got that from anywhere else. 'But Lewis also contributed to the story. There is a part in the film where Sonny Hayes talks about why he races and almost the spiritual side of it. And that also was inspired by a conversation with Lewis. So his involvement has been amazing. And we couldn't make the film without him.' Pitt's fictional rookie team-mate Joshua Pearce is played by British actor Damson Idris. Filming has taken place across multiple races over the last two seasons, and F1 chiefs hope the movie will follow the popularity of Netflix's Drive To Survive series in cracking America.


Telegraph
35 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Carlos Sainz: I take no pride in Lewis Hamilton's struggles at Ferrari
Carlos Sainz is picking his words carefully. He clearly wishes to make the point he is not in the least bit surprised to see Lewis Hamilton struggling at Ferrari, but without sounding smug about it. 'It's not about 'revenge' or 'vindication',' insists the Spaniard, who admitted towards the end of last year he had been 'shocked' and 'hurt' when informed by Ferrari he would be replaced by Hamilton for 2025 after four seasons with the Scuderia. 'Honestly I try not to look at it,' he tells Telegraph Sport. 'I try not to think about things that are not in my control, things I can't have an influence on. I can only control what I do in a Williams. And for me, it's enough to have changed teams this season and to have shown the progress we have. Again, it's another team that I go to and another team that improves and it goes in the right direction. 'So I look at that, more than looking at what is going on at Ferrari with Lewis. At the end of the day, I think, or I knew, that we [Sainz and Hamilton] were both going to struggle in adapting to a new car.' Sainz sits back on a chair in the Williams paddock home in Montreal. It has been an interesting six months since he joined the Grove-based team. Williams have been one of the big success stories of the season so far, lying fifth in the constructors' championship with 54 points already in the bank (they only managed 17 points in the whole of last year). Sainz, though, is not getting carried away. He, like Hamilton, has had to get used to a new team and a new car. And it has shown on the track. Alex Albon, on 42 points, has massively outscored Sainz, who has just 12 points, with the Briton beating the Spaniard at every race bar Saudi Arabia, where Sainz finished eighth to Albon's ninth, and Barcelona two weekends ago, where Albon was forced to retire. Sainz has, though, picked up points at four of the last five races, and after a brief acclimatisation period the man dubbed 'Smooth Operator' has generally been quicker than his results have suggested. James Vowles, the Williams team principal, has credited the Spaniard not only with pushing Albon to new levels, but in playing a significant role in the team's development of the 2026 car, bringing knowledge accrued from a decade in the sport, first with Toro Rosso, then Renault, McLaren and Ferrari. Sainz refuses to award himself a mark out of 10 for the season so far, saying he prefers 'more objective analysis'. But he does admit he feels he is probably doing the best of those drivers who have switched teams this year. 'I think the truth is there's good and bad, like always,' he says. 'The good is that myself and the team have done a very big step forward during these first nine races and everything is trending in the right direction. My adaptation process has been really good. I'm quick with the car. I feel like out of everyone that's changed teams, I'm doing reasonably well in being quick with a new team and a new car and I don't think my points [tally] reflects what we deserve. 'But at the same time, we haven't yet put a big result together on a Sunday. There have been different reasons for that – whether it's been my mistake, the team's mistake, just bad luck – but clearly we haven't extracted a really big result out of the season yet. But I feel like this is just about to come.' Sainz says he feels his bedding-in period is close to ending. 'Six months' adaptation process' is reasonable, he suggests. But in the second half of the season he expects himself to be extracting the full potential of the car. It is an interesting claim, given Hamilton has warned his journey at Ferrari is only just beginning and it may take longer than a season to get up to speed. Again, Sainz tries to be diplomatic. 'I mean, every case is different,' he says. 'I don't know the struggles Lewis is facing or how long it will take him. I can only talk about me. And I think from here to the end of the season, my target is to maximise every weekend, extract the full potential of the car. 'I know there will still be ups and downs, and big learning points, like in Barcelona [where Williams failed to score points for the first time since Bahrain] and Monaco. But I also know that I have other very good examples of me already being very close to maximising everything. So I need to back myself up on that and think that it's just going to get better.' 'This is the place I want to be in the long term' One thing Sainz is sure of is that, however close he gets this season to unleashing the full performance potential of the FW47, modern-day Formula One rewards continuity. It is no coincidence that the top-performing drivers are well-embedded in their teams. 'You look at Charles [Leclerc], or George [Russell], or a Max [Verstappen], or a Lando [Norris]... even you can see the progress of Oscar [Piastri] over three seasons, you know? I strongly believe to execute your best level in Formula One, you need to be in a team for four or five years. You need people to understand the way you work, you need that bond with every engineer, you need the team to back you and give you that long-term stability.' It is why Sainz sympathises with Hamilton rather than rejoices in his struggles. 'In the end, it's exactly the same for me and Lewis,' he says. 'It's not like you're going to arrive at a team and just blow away a guy that is extremely fast, who knows the team so well. That doesn't happen in modern Formula One. Alex and Charles have very similar amounts of experience in F1, and they are both performing at a high level.' At 30, and after a nomadic career spent building up experience at one team, only to move when he has bedded in, Sainz is hopeful he has made the right call this time, opting for Williams when he received his Ferrari P45, rather than Alpine or Sauber, or even Red Bull or Mercedes if they were ever on the table. 'If this project keeps going in the direction it's going, I'm not lying that this is the place where I want to be in the long term,' he insists of Williams' prospects. 'We have a big test next year [with the new regulations]. But already talking to JV [Vowles] and senior staff, I like what I see. I like where we're trending. There's a good vibe around Williams, around its management, around the targets, and I think James and his whole team are managing to get everyone on the same page.'