OFFICIAL: F1 announces 2026 calendar: When will the drivers and teams be in action?

07:14, 10 Jun

byLudo van Denderen

The 2025 season is not even halfway through, but the Formula 1 calendar for 2026 has been officially announced. In '26 - the first year of the new technical regulations - there are also 24 Grand Prix weekends on the programme. The opening race is on 8 March in Australia, the season will end in Abu Dhabi. That will happen on 6 December.

Compared to the current season, one new Grand Prix will be added to the calendar. For the first time, the Spanish Grand Prix will be held in Madrid. That does not mean that the race in Barcelona will disappear. It is still there, so there are two races in Spain on the programme. The Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, which was held in Imola this year, is no longer there.

A striking feature of the new calendar is that the races in Miami and Canada are clustered. In 2025, the Canadian Grand Prix will be in the middle of the European part of the season. That has been a thorn in the side of F1 for a while because of the extra flying hours and the associated pollution that come with it.

Busy start of the season, Zandvoort for the last time

At the start of the season, the twenty drivers and their teams are immediately busy. In the first weekends of the season, the same number of Grands Prix are on the program. After the visit to Melbourne, F1 travels directly to Shanghai (China) and Suzuka (Japan).

The Dutch Grand Prix is on the F1 calendar for the last time. The final edition of the race at the Zandvoort circuit is on August 23. Dutch fans of Max Verstappen can see their hero at work close to home twice in 2026. There is also the Belgian Grand Prix, which is scheduled for July 19.