For the first time in the history of the F1 world championship, it is to go directly up against the Indianapolis 500 in 2026 after the Canadian Grand Prix was moved.
Traditionally, the Montreal race has taken place on the second weekend in June, a couple of weeks after the Monaco GP and Indy 500, which happen at the end of May.
With this schedule, Canada forms a mini-North American leg with Miami on May 1st-3rd, with Monaco then kicking off an uninterrupted European season, concluding with the new Madrid GP on September 11th-13th.
But in doing so and moving the Montreal race forward to May 24th, it means for the first time in history, an F1 grand prix will take place at the exact same time as the Indy 500.
The Indy 500 usually begins at around 12:45 ET on the Sunday before Memorial Day, which in 2026, falls on Monday, 25th May.
The Canadian GP in 2025 is set to begin at 14:00 ET, an ideal time zone for Europe with a 19:00 start UK time.
The Indy 500 usually takes around two-and-a-half to three hours to complete, meaning there is set to be a direct clash between the two, in roughly the same market.
In the previous 109 runnings of the Indy 500, 108 of them have started on this Sunday, with only the 2020 race being delayed, until August 23rd, because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Although the Monaco GP and the Indy 500 usually took place on the same day, given the time differences involved, Monaco was usually finished by the time of the green flag at IMS. The two races formed part of a trio of blue-riband motorsport events taking place on the same day, with NASCAR's Coca-Cola 600.
There could also be a further major clash for F1, with the Le Mans 24 Hours.
Usually, F1 tries to keep a free weekend for Le Mans, with the last clash coming in 2016 before 2025's Canada clash.
On the 2026 calendar, Barcelona is currently pencilled in for June 12th-14th, meaning that race and Le Mans could finish at around the same time if the twice-around-the-clock endurance race is not shifted back until the third weekend of June.
Also interesting:
Join RacingNews365's Ian Parkes and Nick Golding for a special episode of the podcast, as they are joined by Sebastien Buemi to look ahead to the Le Mans 24 Hours and the Canadian GP. Both events and also Formula E are discussed, and how quickly Max Verstappen would adjust to Le Mans.
Rather watch the podcast? Then click here!
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