Formula 1 has released the full 2026 schedule, which features some major changes. One includes a potential clash with the Indianapolis 500.
According to the F1 schedule, the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal will take place on May 22-24. This event traditionally airs at 2 p.m. ET. It runs for approximately 90 minutes. Last season's Canadian Grand Prix took 1 hour and 45 minutes to complete.
The Indy 500, which will take place on May 24, 2026, traditionally starts at 12:45 p.m. ET. It runs for approximately three hours. This put its end at around 3:45-4 p.m. ET.
This means that motorsports fans would have to choose between watching the end of the Indy 500 or the end of the Canadian Grand Prix. An easy choice for dedicated F1 or IndyCar fans, but a far more difficult choice for open-wheel fans who just like to watch multiple series.
The last weekend in May -- which is Memorial Day weekend in the United States -- has traditionally featured the Monaco Grand Prix. This was the first event of Motorsports Christmas, and it aired at 9 a.m. ET. However, F1 moved the Monaco Grand Prix to June and replaced it with the Canadian Grand Prix.
Save the date 🔒
Presenting the 2026 Calendar 🗓️
24 races across the world to crown our champion 🏆#F1 #Formula1 pic.twitter.com/4xe7e8MPM6
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 10, 2025
The explanation in the F1 schedule release is that holding the Montreal race after the Miami Grand Prix (May 1-3) delivers "significant freight efficiencies as some equipment can move directly from one event to the other."
This schedule change also consolidates the European stretch of the F1 schedule in June, July, August, and September. This final event of this summer stretch marks the debut of a grand prix in Madrid.
This stretch starts with Monaco on June 5-7. It continues with Barcelona-Catalunya (Spain), Spielberg (Austria), Silverstone (United Kingdom), Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium), Budapest (Hungary), Zandvoort (Netherlands), Monza (Italy), and Madrid (Spain)
Still, this decision to create a potential clash will turn some heads for multiple reasons. The first is that Colorado-based Liberty Media owns F1. This company also has a 30% stake in Meyer Shank Racing, which competes in the NTT IndyCar Series.
The other reason is audience. According to ESPN, last season's Canadian Grand Prix enjoyed its largest United States-based television audience ever as 1.8 million viewers tuned in for the race between 2-4 p.m. ET.
This continued F1's growth in the United States, which included a historic 3.1 million average viewers for last season's Miami Grand Prix. This season's Miami Grand Prix dropped to just over 2 million viewers.
This season's Indy 500, for comparison, sold out with 350,000 fans attending the race in person. Another 7.05 million people watched on Fox. This marked the largest television audience in 17 years. 8.4 million viewers tuned in from 4:15-4:30 p.m. ET as Alex Palou won the rain-delayed race.