Category: FIA

2026: A Different Motorsport Christmas

For as long as I can remember we’ve all enjoyed ‘Motorsport Christmas’ at the end of May.

For as long as I can remember we’ve all enjoyed ‘Motorsport Christmas’ at the end of May. I can’t even remember who coined the phrase (was it Elizabeth?), but I know a bunch of us have been calling it that for years.

The weekend in which, for as long I can remember, the marquee events of the Monaco Grand Prix and the Indianapolis 500 are the dual centrepiece, followed by the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte. In some years we also get MotoGP, N24, BTCC, or various other championships around the world also choosing the last full weekend in May.

Occasionally there are years Monaco and Indy don’t align. Both have been linked with traditional days in the local calendar. In Monaco it was the Sunday after Ascension Day, in Indy it is Memorial Day weekend.

They won’t align this year.

F1 has moved the Monaco GP to June 7th.

In its place on May 24th goes the Canadian GP.

You immediately see the problem. Yes, a North American F1 race the same day as the most prestigious North American race of all, the Indy 500. No, I don’t get it either. The good news is they shouldn’t directly overlap, but it will be very close.

None of this will matter for the armchair fan, for whom this remains a great day. If anything, if you are committed to going straight through without a break, you’re in luck! (Personally I do need a de-compression break between them. We won’t have that this year.).

According to the race day timetables, the start in Montreal should occur within minutes of the chequered flag at Indy. And the chequered in Montreal should occur very shortly before the Coke 600. But it is so tight that even one red flag, or a large amount of Safety Car running, will definitely impact our day.

What else is on?

Remember Formula 2 got moved to Canada after the problems in the Gulf. On top of that we have Supercars, BTCC, DTM, ADAC GT, Super Formula, and a whole bunch of things happening on dirt. And on Bank Holiday Monday there’s British GT!

I thought it was worth figuring out the timings for Sunday. And then I kept going and worked out how to watch things, at least if you’re here in the UK. For everyone else it’s helpful guide too, I hope.

All times British Summer Time.

Motorsport Christmas Eve:
Saturday 23rd May 2026

Time (UK)Expected FinishSeriesRaceTrackUK TV
12:30am4amNASCAR TrucksNorth Carolina Education Lottery 200CharlottePremier Sports Streaming
3:45am5amSupercarsRace 1Symmons PlainsTNT Sports 2
12:15pm2pmDTMRace 1ZandvoortPremier Sports Streaming
2:40pm3pmF1 AcademyRace 1MontrealSky Sports F1
3pm3:20pmBTCCQualifying RaceSnettertonITV YouTube
3pm3:20pmGB4Race 1Oulton ParkMSV TV YouTube
3:40pmFRECRace 1ZandvoortFREC YouTube
5pm5:30pmF1SprintMontrealSky Sports F1
5:45pm9pmFIM SpeedwayCzech GPPragueTNT Sports 2
7pm8pmF2Race 1MontrealSky Sports F1
9pm10pmF1QualifyingMontrealSky Sports F1
9pm1:30amNASCAR O’Reilly SeriesCharbroil 300CharlottePremier Sports Streaming
11pm11:25pmF1 AcademyRace 2MontrealSky Sports F1

Motorsport Christmas Race Day:
Sunday 24th May 2026

Time (UK)Expected FinishSeriesRaceTrackUK TV
6amSupercarsRace 3Symmons PlainsTNT Sports 2
11:30am12:00pmBTCCRace 1SnettertonITV4
12:15pm2pmDTMRace 2ZandvoortPremier Sports Streaming
2:20pm2:50pmBTCCRace 2SnettertonITV4
3pm3:50pmIndyCarPre-RaceIndianapolisSky Sports F1
3:40pmFRECRace 2ZandvoortFREC YouTube
3:50pmIndyCarPre-RaceIndianapolisSky Sports Mix
3:50pm4:15pmF1 AcademyRace 3MontrealSky Sports F1
4pmFIA ERCSS16Rally ScandinaviaTNT Sports 2
4:47pmIndyCarDriver IntrosIndianapolisSky Sports Mix
4:55pm5:25pmBTCCRace 3SnettertonITV4
5pm5:30pmF2Race 2MontrealSky Sports F1
5:24pmIndyCarAnthemIndianapolisSky Sports Mix
5:36pmIndyCarBack Home AgainIndianapolisSky Sports Mix
5:45pm (Green)9pmIndyCarIndy 500IndianapolisSky Sports Mix
8pmF1Pre-RaceMontrealSky Sports F1
9pm
(Green)		10:30pmF1Canadian GPMontrealSky Sports F1
10pm4:00amNASCAR CupCoke 600CharlottePremier Sports 2

Motorsport Boxing Day:
Monday 25th May 2026

Time (UK)Expected FinishSeriesRaceTrackUK TV
9:45am10:05amGB4Race 2Oulton ParkMSV TV YouTube
11:05am12:05pmBritish GTRace 1Oulton ParkGT World YouTube & Sky Sports F1
3pm3:20pmGB4Race 3Oulton ParkMSV TV YouTube
3:45pm4:45pmBritish GTRace 2Oulton ParkGT World YouTube & Sky Sports F1

NASCAR time is the TV window, I don’t know when the green flag is. Last year’s race ran 4h30m. If you’re in the UK, good job this is a Bank Holiday weekend.

With Supercars and Superformula starting early in the morning, NASCAR Cup finishing early in the morning the following day, and a pair of British GT races on the Monday.

These images from my calendars show all the races happening the weekend of Motorsport Christmas.

Subscribe to the calendars to get reminded!

2026 Race Changes In The Immediate Term

The important thing right now is to call for restraint, calm, a de-escalation, and a quick end to the war. Nobody gains from this action and there is a lot to lose.

The Israeli-led, US-backed strikes on Iran, invasion of Lebanon, and the retaliatory strikes across the wider region, has caused chaos in the Gulf. Bahrain and Qatar have both suffered missile attacks for a war they didn’t start.

The important thing right now is to call for restraint, calm, a de-escalation, and a quick end to the war. Nobody gains from this action and there is a lot to lose.

Some have called motorsport ‘war by other means’, a peaceful way to advance technology and demonstrate your prowess by doing so on the racetrack. Let us hope for a day when that is where it stays.

For the immediate term, as a blog about motorsport and race calendars, let’s look at the impact on the racing world.

Bahrain and Qatar were scheduled to host motor racing events in the next two months, along with Saudi Arabia. Add in the United Arab Emirates, including Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and we may see other events at risk later in the year.

One site attacked was just 7km from Bahrain International Airport, the only realistic way of reaching Bahrain International Circuit from abroad, and barely a 30-40 minute drive from the circuit. In Qatar, Lusail International Circuit is in close proximity to Doha. And we’ve all seen the missiles intercepted over Dubai in the UAE.

And with the Saudi Arabian GP also due up soon, although I’ve not seen reporting of attacks on the country, we must remember the Grand Prix itself was threatened in 2022 by Yemen’s Houthi rebels and is therefore also at a serious security risk right now. Nothing can be considered off the table.

I have had a lot of thoughts about all of this but I think it is best to save those for another time and focus on what the racing world needs to do next, while we all hope for a return to calmer times.

International air travel

A significant amount of international air travel these days is routed through the region. This will have a knock-on effect to global business and will include the travel plans for the majority of the race series that travel the world. Many Grands Prix and race teams are sponsored by Gulf-based airlines. Travel to Australia, China and Japan for many team personnel will include stops offs in Dubai or Doha.

You can imagine some frantic changes going on already, big logistical challenges for staff and freight, not to mention the cost increase. These are not insurmountable in this day and age but it’s a burden they don’t need. Not just F1 operations with hundreds of staff flying out, but also something like a small GT team running to a tight budget.

Events At Risk

In the immediate term there are four events to think about in March and April. There is then a gap before major international racing is scheduled to return in November. It is good the Asian Le Mans Series, FR Middle East, UAE F4, etc. all completed their seasons in February.

I will update this page over the next couple of weeks as news comes out.

March & April

  • 22 March | FIA WEC | Prologue, Qatar – Moved to 14 April at Imola;
  • 28 March | FIA WEC | Qatar 1812km – Rescheduled to 24 October;

Qatar 1812km postponed (DSC 03/03/26)
Prologue moved to Imola (DSC 06/03/26)
New Qatar 1812km date confirmed (DSC 13/03/26)

Race postponed to ‘second half of season’. If things calm by mid-summer I would expect this race to be rescheduled to late October, there is a gap in the schedule, and the Bahrain race is in November.
Edit 13/03/26: race rescheduled to 24 October.

If tensions are still high by September, I anticipate Qatar and Bahrain will be cancelled and WEC may attempt to run one race somewhere else in replacement.

The Prologue has been moved to Imola on the Tuesday of race week.

  • 12 April | MotoGP | Qatar Grand Prix – Moved to 8 November;

Carlos Ezpeleta says they have been talking with Qatar/Lusail and while it is unlikely they will go, they can’t it rule out just yet. (Motorsport.com 04/03/26)

Edit 17/03/26: Qatar MotoGP has been moved to 8 November. Portimao and Valencia are each delayed by 1 week to allow for kit to freight back to Europe. (MotoGP.com 15/03/26).

  • 12 April | F1 | Bahrain Grand Prix – Cancelled;
  • 19 April | F1 | Saudi Arabian Grand Prix – Cancelled;

Also worth noting Formula 2 and Formula 3 are scheduled to go from Melbourne to their next race in Bahrain. Decisions need to be taken on this.

Edit 14/03/26: These races have been cancelled, along with F2 & F3 support races.
Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix will not take place in April (F1.com 14/03/26)
This announcement only mentions April but I cannot see how they will be rescheduled this year. Even if the situation in the region becomes stable in time for later in the year, the F1 schedule from September to December is too condensed to fit any more races.

Later in the year

Motorsport returns to the Gulf region at the end of the year. I’m expecting we won’t hear decisions about these until August/September at the earliest.

  • 14 November | FIA WEC | 8H Bahrain – TBC;
  • 29 November | F1 | Qatar Grand Prix – TBC;
  • 6 December | F1 | Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – TBC;

Let us hope the situation has calmed by then and that cooler heads have prevailed.

There are only losers from this conflict, there are no winners.

2013 FIA WEC Schedule

I took a look at the F1 and IndyCar schedules the other week, I meant to follow them up straight away with this post but it slipped back.

On the same day the F1 calendar was announced the FIA World Motorsport Council also confirmed the schedule for the 2013 World Endurance Championship.

The 2012 season has proven to be a good start for the new series, taking the ILMC concept and expanding it with a proper identity and FIA backing. It is good to see the ACO and FIA working closely together and I hope it continues like this.

Good

– Stability. Any new championship with a successful start will find it very tempting to add races here, there and everywhere in the 2nd and 3rd years. The FIA and ACO have avoided this temptation in order to continue to build the existing races and keep costs reigned in during the current economic climate. Choosing not to add races helps the teams and hopefully attracts some new ones, both of which have to be priorities right now. Sensible choice.

– Rearranged race order. Silverstone becomes the opening round, Sao Paulo moves a month earlier to August, Bahrain becomes the final round. This is all part and parcel of a series finding a footing and trying events at different times. Some will work and some won’t. The race order has also been arranged such that the travel costs for the teams is a lot lower and sea freight can be utilised for some journeys, compared with using air freight all this year. The season is arranged into three blocks: Europe, the Americas, Asia.

– US round retained. Keeping the merged ALMS/GrandAm racing with the WEC at the 12 Hours of Sebring was never going to work, so WEC had to look elsewhere. The one new event on the 2013 calendar is the 6 Hours of Austin at the Circuit of the Americas. I do think it is a positive for the WEC to have its own branded event in the US. That brings us on to a related point.

– Double-headers. The WEC will tie-up with related series twice in the year. The opening round will see the ELMS race on Saturday at Silverstone with WEC on Sunday. Then in September, the ALMS will race on Saturday in Austin with the WEC following up the next day.
From a fan perspective this is a great idea to bring together the local flavours of LM racing with the world championship. While ELMS/ALMS race lengths aren’t confirmed, the WEC will race for 6 hours at each. Two days of racing for two sets of the most die-hard sportscar fans.

– Race dates are more spread out. This year saw a lot of gaps until September when a long run of events began. This works in other series but you just can’t run 6-hour races on a week on / week off format, which we’re pretty much in the middle of right now. Teams don’t have the budget of F1 teams who do it for shorter races (remember these are Asian flyaways and most WEC teams are still European for now). Next year we will see one race per month, skipping July to recover from the 24 Hour, and finishing with two in November which are 20 days apart. Good scheduling.

Bad

– Sebring. No getting around the loss of Sebring, even though it was for perfectly understandable reasons. Clearly combining the WEC and ALMS grids into one race was never going to be a long-term option, especially when the unified North American series begins in 2014 and their resulting changes to class structure. Even without that factor, the grid sizes and complexities of running two distinct races in one were too difficult to maintain. (Personally I’d have dropped the PC and GTC classes for that race.) But with the GrandAm/ALMS merger including ownership of Sebring it will clearly be a key race on their calendar from 2014 onwards.
There is an agreement between ALMS and WEC to allow a month before the first WEC round, to allow any WEC teams to compete at Sebring. Unsure how many will take up this offer as they won’t be scoring any points but some might like to go pot-hunting – I hope so.

– Double-headers. I don’t know how likely it would’ve been, but running ALMS and ELMS at the same events as the WEC prevents the teams from those series entering as ‘wildcards’ into the WEC race. As negatives go it isn’t a big one as it would only affect one or two cars, but it did occur to me.
Actually on a personal level the only downside is having to find a hotel near Silverstone or having to do the 3 hour each way journey twice in two days. I may end up skipping ELMS but we’ll see what the entry list is like.
Oh and I don’t like the name ‘Super Endurance Weekend’. Hm. But this is something in common with the WEC which needs to have Le Mans in the title so people realise it isn’t Ironman triathlon or something.

– Silverstone in April. As much as I love that the UK gets the first round, this is possibly the rainiest month in a country that gets a hell of a lot of rain. F1 raced at Silverstone in April one year and the place got waterlogged. Besides that I really enjoyed the warmth of a race into an August evening, can we do that every year instead?

Summary

A good solid progression from the first year of the WEC and the preliminary ILMC which preceded it. Spreading the series across a race per month is a great idea which walks the line between keeping it in the public eye against the needs of the teams to recover and repair after each round. I think it’ll work really well.

2013 World Endurance Championship Schedule

14 April – Silverstone, UK  [6 Hours] (with ELMS on Sat)
4 May – Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium [6 Hours] (Saturday)
22-23 June – Le Mans, France [24 Hours]
24 August – Sao Paulo, Brazil [6 Hours] (Saturday)
22 September – Austin, USA [6 Hours] (with ALMS on Sat)
20 October – Mt.Fuji, Japan [6 Hours]
10 November – Shanghai, China [6 Hours]
30 November – Bahrain [6 Hours] (Saturday)

Le Mans will offer double-points.

Next year the drivers in each class will be awarded titles. This year only overall results counted for the Drivers Championship so it was effectively an LMP1-only title. GTE Pro drivers will get a World Cup, LMP2 and GTE Am drivers will get a FIA Endurance Trophy. Personally I feel each class should win a World Championship, to do otherwise is confusing.

I’ve added these dates to my TMR Google/iCal calendars which you can import for your own use. If you subscribed earlier in the year these should be visible to you already.

2013 F1 Schedule Switches Valencia for New York

The 2013 F1 Series schedule was announced at the FIA World Motorsport Council last Friday. It features mostly minor tweaks to the pattern we’ve grown accustomed to seeing over the last five years or so.

I’ll take the same format as yesterday’s IndyCar post, albeit it’ll be a little shorter as there are fewer changes.

Good

– 20 races. This is arguably too many and I’m sure the teams think it is. These days I’ve taken the view that if I miss some it isn’t the end of the world, and I can watch them later at at time of my choosing. When there were fewer races they were all unmissable. Now you have to pick and choose to protect some semblance of life. I do think 20 is the most any major series needs, anything from 17-20 is ideal for me.

– Valencia gone. I know Valencia is a fantastic place to visit, I’ve not been but I know people who have and the place even looks great on TV (away from the back half of the track). The problem is the races are horribly bad. This year was an exception. There are no guarantees they’d all be good from now. Add to that the cost of attending the GP there, you’re better off going a week earlier or later when it is much cheaper. Valencia is a place to go as a tourist and lounge on the beach, not to see a race. It’s possible Valencia may alternate seasons with Barcelona.

– New Jersey in. As expected. This may be marked a TBC and we may have seen reports of contract difficulties, but the latter came from Bernie’s pet leak so I don’t give it much creedence. I think he’s trying to test how serious they are. Ask yourself, after 25 years of trying to get a race opposite the New York skyline why would he jeapordise the best chance he’ll ever have? No this race will happen. Whether it’ll be a good race is an unknown. It’ll look fantastic. This is also good because it creates a fourth race in the Americas after Sao Paulo, Montreal and Austin. It’s about time F1 headed West again.

– The Cool Factor. Remove the track or place names and list the nearest cities instead. Suddenly, you have one of the coolest schedules in all of sport let alone all of racing:  Melbourne, Kuala Lumpur, Shanghai, Barcelona, Monaco, Montreal, New York, Budapest, Milan, Singapore, New Delhi, Abu Dhabi, Austin, Sao Paulo. Sprinkle in some classic racing names: Silverstone, Spa, Monza, Nurburgring. From a PR standpoint that’s unbeatable and F1 should be doing a LOT more than it is to promote the fact.

– Continuity. Multiple returning races in pretty much the same slots they’ve occupied for many years.

– Australia still first. Albert Park in Melbourne is the perfect season-opener.

– Brazil still last. What a great track to end the season with, such fun especially if the title fight makes it to the last round. Even if it doesn’t, great venue. Bit dangerous in terms of crime but they’ve put up with it for 20 years so another won’t hurt.

– Belgium is still there. Everyone loves the race at Spa-Francorchamps. It’s always in danger of being cancelled so it is good to see it still running on.

Bad

– Some poor race venues are still there. Whatever the positive commercial implications of racing in India, Korea, Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, even Barcelona, the races there have been dire. I have nothing against visiting these countries I just wish they’d come up with better tracks! Some are also quite empty of fans. Not to mention the political dimension with Bahrain although that has been improving. Many dislike Singapore but I quite like it, it’s unique, and in any case they’re talking seriously about making upgrades to their track.

– Back-to-backs. There are a lot of back-to-back consecutive races just a week apart, just like this year. The killer for the teams and mechanics will be the run from September to November – just like this season there’s a stretch of races bunched close together. Great for momentum for fans not losing interest, not so great for the teams flying around the world. At least with European back-to-backs they don’t have jet-lag! I suppose this is all the price of having the long summer break which is essential.

– 2 weeks between Spa and Monza. Happy they are both on but I’ll be slightly hypocritcal and complain they aren’t on back-to-back weeks. Only because there was a chance of doing a road trip from one to the other and now it can’t happen! Plus I really liked these classics scheduled up next to each other.

– Slightly late end. Okay a crazy complaint from someone who loves racing, but March to late November is a pretty long season to follow especially including the ‘Winter Grand Prix’ of pre-season testing. An old off-season was too long though, so could we strike a balance and end in early November?

– New Jersey. Despite questionable sources we can usually ignore there are still those niggling doubts that it may get cancelled.

Summary

This calendar like most recent F1 seasons is a small evolutionary change. That’s a good thing, wholesale changes cause instability.

Other notable points include the moving of Silverstone from early July to the last weekend in June. I’m not sure why this was done, effectively it has meant the British GP and the Goodwood Festival of Speed have traded weekends. Perhaps that is a good thing, perhaps it isn’t relevant.

2013 Formula 1 World Championship Schedule

17 March – Melbourne, Australia
24 March – Sepang, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
14 April – Shanghai, China
21 April – Sakhir, Bahrain
12 May – Barcelona, Spain
26 May – Monaco
9 June – Montreal, Canada
16 June – West New York, New Jersey, USA
30 June – Silverstone, UK
14 July – Nurburgring, Germany
28 July – Hungaroring, Budapest, Hungary
25 August – Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium
8 September – Monza, Milan, Italy
22 September – Marina Bay, Singapore
6 October – Yeongam, South Korea
13 October – Suzuka, Japan
27 October – New Delhi, India
3 November – Abu Dhabi, UAE
17 November – Austin, Texas, USA
24 November – Sao Paulo, Brazil

I’ve added these dates to my TMR Google/iCal calendars which you can import for your own use. If you subscribed earlier in the year these should be visible to you already.