F1’s 2026 Canadian GP clash with Indy 500 won’t happen every year

The clash between Formula 1’s 2026 Canadian Grand Prix and IndyCar’s Indianapolis 500 will only happen once every five years, Autosport understands.

On Tuesday, F1 announced its 24-race calendar for next year, which sees Imola drop out in favour of a new race in Madrid as Spain’s capital takes over the Spanish Grand Prix moniker from Barcelona. The calendar also features date changes in May and June, with Monaco moving back by two weeks and Canada taking its place on 22-24 May.

Before the calendar was published in full, Monaco’s already announced move seemed to be encouraging news for IndyCar, as no F1 clashes would perhaps lead to more international media attention and potentially even left-field drivers if qualifying was also on a non-F1 weekend.

But the confirmation that the Canadian Grand Prix will now run on the same day as the Indy 500, and given the time zones will therefore directly clash with IndyCar’s crown jewel, will be a bitter pill to swallow for avid motorsports fans.

Autosport understands, however, that said clash will be an exception rather than the new norm, and as the calendar ebbs and flows it should only occur once every five years, with Montreal expected to run the weekend before Indy in 2027.

By moving Montreal to May, F1 management achieved a long-standing objective of bringing the Canada round closer to Miami, which is seen as a key element in making the 24-race calendar more sustainable.

Being able to ship a bigger portion of freight directly from Florida to Quebec without having to return to Europe helps as F1 works towards it Net Zero 2030 campaign, although the series will have wanted the two rounds to be closer together than the current compromise: Miami runs on 3 May, with Canada on 24 May after a two-week gap.

That means that while the situation improves for CO2 emissions and the flow of freight, travelling personnel will still have to make two standalone trips across the pond in May.

The biggest reason for Montreal’s insistence on running as late as possible that month is primarily for operational reasons. As anyone who has travelled to Montreal can attest to, the weather in May can be rather unpredictable. Coming off the month of April in which severe snowstorms are not uncommon, every week the race is brought forward increases the risk of inclement weather and glacial temperatures.

That also eats into the preparation time required to run the event, which has seen several logistical issues in recent years that the organisers are hoping to address at this weekend’s edition. Settling on the last weekend of May presents a compromise on both accounts. Additionally, it is understood Montreal was hesitant to run back-to-back with Miami due to concerns over the two events competing over ticket sales.

So, what of the Indy 500, which starts over an hour earlier but due to its length will clash fully with the Canadian Grand Prix? The fact is that F1 doesn’t really seem to mind and certainly wouldn’t be expected to take other racing series into consideration. As a case in point, it has also been happy to run in Montreal during the Le Mans 24 Hours, as is the case once more this weekend.

At the end of the day the large majority of TV viewers will simply pick their favourite event, and it is a smaller segment of hardcore fans that will really be affected.

Losing some North American viewers seems like a price worth paying for the overall goal of streamlining its congested calendar, as it is understood that F1 feels the demographic it is chasing doesn’t overlap all that much with that of the Indy 500 anyway.

Why Madrid’s Spanish Grand Prix is held in September

IFEMA Madrid

Photo by: Formula 1

Intriguingly, the two-week gap between Miami and Montreal does seem to leave wiggle room for another race should F1’s new kid on the block, Madrid, not be ready. There had been some concern over the time it took to finally break ground on the Madring circuit near its Barajas airport, with suggestions the departing Imola might return after all in 2026.

But those fears have eased now construction finally appears underway, and the whole point of moving Montreal in the first place, which has taken a long time for the organisers to agree to, was not to return to Europe after Miami.

One emergency alternative, however, could be to move Barcelona to Madrid’s September slot and bring back Imola in June.

Madrid’s place on the calendar was celebrated last weekend with a show run by Williams driver Carlos Sainz on the already existing street portion of the hybrid street/permanent track, which will also feature a fast purpose-built section including a flat-out high-speed banked corner.

The Spanish Grand Prix is now set for 13 September, which makes it a logical double-header with Monza’s Italian Grand Prix a week prior. That date, as the last European race of the year – unless one counts Baku – means it gives organisers the best chance of getting ready in time and it will also create a healthy three-month gap with Spain’s existing race in Barcelona, which is heading into its final contract year.

The race at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is yet to receive a new name, with ‘Catalan Grand Prix’ a sensible option given the regional government’s backing of the event.

How many triple-headers does F1 2026 have?

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-24, George Russell, Mercedes F1 W15, Pierre Gasly, Alpine A524, the remainder of the field at the start

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

Calendar tweaks in May and June do have one positive effect for F1 staff, as the European season no longer features a triple-header. Monaco and Barcelona are both moving back to form a double-header, followed by a one-week gap into Austria and Silverstone, with the latter double-header remaining tricky for trucking logistics.

What hasn’t improved is F1’s brutal end to the year, with a run-in of six races in the space of seven weeks between mid-October and early December. After one year of running as a standalone, Brazil is reconnected with the logical Austin-Mexico double once more, while the trio of Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi remains in place for the third consecutive year.

What was once seen as an emergency measure during the pandemic is now something that has begrudgingly been accepted. Triple-headers are inevitable if F1 remains keen on hosting 24 races – which it very much is – while still maintaining a mandatory summer shutdown and a reasonable length off-season break.

Instead, teams are rotating more and more travelling personnel while some roles have moved to the factory thanks to modern communication technology.