Tag: schedule

2026 IndyCar Calendar

The 2026 IndyCar Series season starts this weekend. There are some really interesting changes, but also a controversial one.

The 2026 IndyCar Series season starts this weekend. There are some really interesting changes, but also a controversial one.

Get your Google Calendars for the 2026 IndyCar season right here!

A Return And A Debut

After the traditional St Petersburg opener on 1st March, we see a completely revamped spring season. What used to be empty is now busy!

The first thing to spot is no more race at Thermal ‘country club’. It was only attended by a handful of rich folk at their private members club, which happens to be a racetrack. Barely any fans at all. The series was trying to make connections with some potential backers and get a pay cheque. Don’t know that a lot of sponsorship came of it. The optics of racing at an empty venue were not good, even if there was a business case. I will say the 2025 Grand Prix was a lot better than 2024’s heat races, it was more like a typical IndyCar Grand Prix at Barber or Mid-Ohio. But I don’t think many fans will be sad to see this go.

We now see two very different races fill the gap and they are in the two weeks immediately after St Pete.

The oval in Phoenix, Arizona returns with a really interesting twist in that it supports the NASCAR Cup Series. At IndyCar’s last visits in 2017 and 2018 there was poor attendance and very poor racing (no passing). Hopefully the link up with NASCAR helps the former, and pre-season testing indicates an improvement to the latter. We only have a couple of weeks before we find out. It’s also a very good thing to have an oval before Indy.

A week later there’s an exciting new race in Arlington, Texas. It is next to AT&T Stadium (Dallas Cowboys) and encircles Globe Life Field (Texas Rangers). The track map for this looks promising and I’m even hoping it might turn out to be Formula 1 grade, in the style of Miami Autodrome (which is based around the Hard Rock Stadium), rather than IndyCar’s usual collection of bumpy streets that haven’t even been resurfaced. There is a lot of promotion and potential for this one as well. I really hope it is a success.

Track map of the GP of Arlington

The only downside to Arlington is that it effectively replaces Texas Motor Speedway, north of Fort Worth and only 30 miles away from AT&T Stadium. TMS has been a staple of IndyCar for years and can be a really interesting oval race. Unfortunately, the stands have been shockingly empty the last few years, which did not reflect the quality of the on track product. Arlington sits halfway between Dallas and Fort Worth, everyone in the area should know the venue, so hopefully we see a crowd. You can see the large General Admission areas in the graphic.

Two weeks later they go to Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama. We then get a quiet 5 weeks where there’s only one race, Long Beach.

Month of May

Last year’s Month opened at Barber. This is an off week in 2026. The ‘Month of May’ opens with the IMS road course race, as per the new tradition. Then action moves to the IMS oval for days of free practice leading into Qualifications weekend. A week later on May 24th, is the 110th Indianapolis 500.

How time flies, it feels barely 5 minutes since we celebrated the Centennial Era, a whole decade ago.

A quirk of the calendar this year sees a fifth weekend in the month, we actually close out the month with the Detroit Grand Prix. I still dislike that we go to a street track the week after Indy. But we go back to the ovals a week later with the Gateway 500km.

For fans of both IndyCar and F1, as covered last week, Monaco and Indy don’t clash any more. Instead, it’ll be the Canadian GP and it’ll follow Indy. But we still get an IndyCar oval to enjoy after Monaco with the Gateway race later that day.

For the teams, going non-stop from loading in at Indy for practice on May 8th, until Gateway on June 7th, is a pretty intense month.

Summer

The next three races are in a steadier format, one week on, one week off for Road America, Mid-Ohio, Nashville. The change being Nashville Superspeedway moves to mid-July, forgoing the season-closer spot it’s held recently. That’s a real shame. It was a brilliant way to end the year. I enjoy the mix of street and road courses but it just felt right to finish on an oval.

After two weekends off, we’re into the second hectic month of the year.

From Portland on August 9th to Laguna Seca on September 9th, IndyCar will race every week and on one weekend they’ll do it twice. 6 races in 5 weekends. Great for us fans! Less good if you are a team truck driver.

From Portland (Oregon), Toronto, Washington D.C., Milwaukee (Saturday & Sunday races), then back across to Laguna Seca (California).

A smarter person than me can tell you why Oregon and California aren’t paired up. I know they are still a very long way apart North-South, but in my head the East-West journey is much longer and it makes sense to stay out West to do those races together.

After 40 years at Exhibition Place, the Honda Dealers Toronto Indy moves to Markham. When this was announced I saw a lot of complaints from Canadian fans including those who live in Toronto. I don’t know anything about the new location so I’ll take my lead from them. What I do know is Exhibition Place is both a) iconic, and b) carnage. The amount of crash damage that track has caused. It has provided a lot of fun over the years as well as some good races. I’m sure the layout there could be changed to be better.

I love that Milwaukee Mile gets two races. They are some of the best of the year, in any series.

Laguna Seca will never be my choice for a season finale. The gravel runoffs cause Safety Cars. It’s hard to overtake. The race should always be on the calendar, I would just prefer a different last race of the year. But I get it. A warm Californian weekend and some good wining and dining for the end of season banquet.

Again the season ends on the first weekend of September, purely to avoid the American sports behemoth of the NFL. NASCAR is big enough to get away with it. It doesn’t seem to trouble the US F1 races. Yet this plan seems to work for IndyCar.

Iowa does not return this year. A real shame for a super-fast short oval that often creates exciting races.

Controversy

The Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington is being run to ‘celebrate the 250th Birthday of the United States’. In normal circumstances under most other Presidents this might be a celebratory event. That’s not the case with this President, one of the most divisive in history whose approval rating is tanking.

It was enough to see some die-hard IndyCar fans I know decide they are not going to watch that race, and even some of them saying they will not watch the series at all this year. I have thoughts on this that may follow here in a few days.

Politics aside, there’s also the logistical challenge. The race was only announced a few weeks ago. It is scheduled for August. Streets races don’t just happen with 8 months notice. It normally takes over a year of planning, with track design, permit approvals, road closures, everything you need to get the local authorities lined up, police, medical, etc., not to mention sourcing the barriers, grandstands, food vendors and portable toilets. This guy thinks he can sign an executive order and it’ll just happen.

This is not like calling Watkins Glen or COTA where you could probably book it at a months’ notice and make a serviceable, if not perfect event out of it.

There’s a danger this event will be so rushed it could be an embarrassment. And then you wonder who will turn up. Will it be like Trump’s vanity military parade that was a ghost town?

Summary

A perfectly balanced season! 6 ovals, 6 permanent road courses, 6 temporary street circuits (if you count Arlington as such). I feel like IndyCar has wanted this ratio forever.

There’s one potentially great addition in Arlington and that should’ve been the big story. I hope Phoenix works this time.

They’ve avoided a date clash with Le Mans. Last year Gateway was on LM24 weekend. As it happens, moves in team and driver rosters are likely to mean IndyCar drivers won’t be going this year either, but it’s good to have the option and maybe there’ll be a surprise.

There are a lot of later-season changes I either don’t care for, or outright don’t like. Losing Iowa, moving Nashville out of the season finale spot.

And I just feel the whole Washington debacle has put a real downer on everything.

2026 IndyCar Calendar

You can add the 2026 IndyCar schedule to your calendars here!

DateRaceLocationComment
1 MarchGrand Prix of St PetersburgAlbert Whitted Park
7 MarchGood Ranchers 250Phoenix RacewayWith NASCAR Cup. Last raced in 2018.
15 MarchJava House Grand Prix of ArlingtonAT&T StadiumNew race.
29 MarchChildren’s of Alabama Indy Grand PrixBarber Motorsport ParkMoved from May.
19 AprilAcura Grand Prix of Long BeachLong BeachWith IMSA.
9 MaySonsio Grand PrixIndianapolis Motor Speedway – Road
24 May110th Indianapolis 500Indianapolis Motor Speedway – Oval
31 MayChevrolet Detroit Grand PrixDetroit Street CircuitWith IMSA.
7 JuneBommarito Automotive Group 500Gateway
21 JuneXPEL Grand Prix at Road AmericaRoad America
5 JulyHonda Indy 200Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
19 JulyMusic City Grand PrixNashville SuperspeedwayMoved from August season finale.
9 AugustGrand Prix of PortlandPortland International Raceway
16 AugustOntario Honda Dealers Indy at MarkhamMarkhamMoved from Exhibition Place in July.
23 AugustGrand Prix of WashingtonWashington D.C.New race.
29 AugustMilwaukee Race 1Milwaukee Mile
30 AugustMilwaukee Race 2Milwaukee Mile
6 SeptemberLaguna SecaLaguna SecaMoved from July.

2026 Formula 1 Calendar

For the 2026 race schedule we see one race gone, some important races moved, and add a new venue! But is it all good?

The 2026 Formula 1 season is soon upon us. It’ll be a really interesting season with new cars, new changes to the hybrid engines, new moveable aerodynamic devices, and new overtake boost rules replacing DRS.

For the 2026 race schedule we see one race gone, some important races moved, and add a new venue! But is it all good?

Get your Google Calendar for the 2026 F1 season right here!

Monaco’s Move

The biggest change in this year’s schedule is the movement of Monaco to June.

  • Montreal moves to 24th May, the Indy 500 date!
  • Monaco moves to 7th June.
  • Barcelona moves to 15th June, the weekend of the Le Mans 24 Hours!

If there are two big races in the world where clashes should be avoided, they are the Indy 500 and the Le Mans 24 Hours. My instinct is to deride the idea of putting a North American F1 race the same day. Let’s look more closely.

Indy 500: Usually Monaco ends a couple of hours before Indy starts. This year Indy runs first, Montreal will start just about when Indy ends. Literally minutes apart. It’ll be close, it’ll rely on no red flags or delays at Indy, not even a lot of Safety Car. But if all goes well only the pre-race and post-race coverage will clash. And that might prove perfectly fine for those at home, ignore the talking heads and just watch the racing.
The downside will be for North American media coverage, especially Canadians who will have to choose where to be.

Le Mans 24 Hours: There will be a direct clash. The 24 Hours usually finishes at 4pm CET. At the time of writing, Barcelona is due to start at 2pm CET. This is clearly not good. If it’s an exciting finish to Le Mans you’ll probably stay on that. If the race is decided in the early hours, you might switch, or second screen F1. Many people will prioritise F1. But let’s be frank, as much as I love Spain, the Barcelona GP is rarely action-packed. It’s often a snoozer. It should be quite easy to follow both races if you have access to both feeds.
Again, it’ll be a choice for those among European media who tend to cross over.

My problem is with the oxygen of publicity and airtime. F1 has a tendency to overwhelm everything else. The Indy 500 and Le Mans 24 Hours deserve to be the biggest stories of their respective weekends. That’s why I’m pleased Monaco is on a weekend where it can be the sole focus (with apologies to IndyCar at Gateway which follows it). It’s the addition of Montreal to that weekend that I don’t like.

But again, with all due respect to the importance and history of the Montreal and Barcelona races, they are not Monaco, or Indy, or Le Mans. This year I wonder if the prestige of Indy and Le Mans might carry their own weight against ‘regular season’ F1 GPs. I have a feeling that will be the case, at least among the fans.

Week To Week

The season starts a week earlier than last year and finishes in the same week.

Last year there was a triple-header in the first three weeks of April. This year, Suzuka moves a week earlier and there’s a week off before the Bahrain-Jeddah desert swing. Easter weekend is left clear.

The changes in May mean last year’s packed month, Miami followed by a triple-header of Imola-Monaco-Barcelona, looks very different. This year we still have Miami to open the month but the only other race in May is Montreal.

Obviously, in logistical terms it makes a lot of sense for Montreal to follow Miami. I just don’t know why it can’t be on one of the free weeks either side.

Most of the rest of the year follows a similar pattern to 2025.

It’s a tough end to the season. COTA, Mexico City, Interlagos run over three weeks, then there’s just a weekend off, before the Las Vegas, Qatar, Abu Dhabi triple.

We had this two years ago, but with two weekends off in between. Last year, there was a week off either side of Interlagos. Both years, everyone in the paddock looked absolutely shattered. They were pushed too far. This year is going to be even harder.

The 12-hour change from Las Vegas to Lusail is particularly brutal and I don’t understand it. I get why LV can’t be moved, you have to fit with the demands of a busy city, but I don’t understand why Lusail has to be the week after.

If we have to have Lusail, and I don’t know why we do because it is a terrible race and an awful way to end the year, could we not move it to join the Bahrain-Saudi races in March? We should really do the same with Abu Dhabi. This would give us races grouped by region, which would be great for travel plans and logistics. As fans you might even try to do as many as possible. But, Abu Dhabi pays a fortune to be the season-closer and that’s important money to F1.

New Venue

The title of the Spanish GP moves to the new street race around a convention centre in Madrid. A track called the MADRING – yes ALL CAPS! On the face of it the layout doesn’t look good, and the location doesn’t sound appealing, but it can be so hard to tell from a map. I hope it’s a better race than my expectations of it so far. I will keep an open mind. This will be the week after the Italian GP at Monza.

The old Spanish GP venue will now host a race called the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix. In future years this will alternate with the Belgian GP at Spa. I have big concerns about this. When it was tried by the German GP it never worked. And so it collapsed. There were other reasons of course, including Schumacher’s retirement. But I fear the same will happen here to both races.

One sad bit of news is that 2026 sees the last Dutch GP for the foreseeable future. A shame. The changes to Zandvoort were brilliant and I love to see such a big excitable crowd there. The Dutch love a party and the energy coming through the TV screen surpasses anywhere else. Even if it means having to listen to bad techno.

We have also lost the Imola race which does not return this year. This is a shame, again the atmosphere there is brilliant and is sometimes worth the race itself perhaps not being quite as good as some others. Who doesn’t love Northern Italy in the Spring?

Sprint Races

The sprints at Spa, COTA and Qatar are gone.

Montreal, Silverstone and Singapore will host their first F1 Sprints. These join Shanghai and Miami which retain theirs from last year.

I think Montreal and Silverstone will work well. I am not so sure about Singapore, I have a feeling everyone will worry about trashing the cars so will play it safe.

There Are Too Many Races

I’ve always argued for quality over quantity. 17 or 18 races, that ballpark felt right. If you want to watch more than that get interested in other championships!

Start with F2 & F3. Move into IndyCar. Sportscars. MotoGP. Touring cars. There’s a world of other motorsport to get into. F1 is the gateway drug. The trouble is, with 24 weeks out of 52 devoted to F1, where’s the time for anything else?

Now we have 24 Grands Prix plus 6 sprints and it’s overwhelming. There is a Grand Prix on 46% of the weekends this year. How are we to have the time to watch other series, never mind hold other interests in our lives?

With six races in seven weeks to end the season, everyone in the paddock looks exhausted and I feel tired just watching it. It ends too late. Personally I would drop Lusail, Miami, Barcelona, Jeddah. These events would not be missed.

F1 should end in mid-November at the latest. The weekend currently occupied by Interlagos is perfect, and what a race to end on that would be.

Let’s keep the good venues and make them great events.

2026 F1 Calendar

You can add the 2026 F1 schedule to your calendars here!

DateRaceLocationComment
8 MarchAustralian Grand PrixAlbert Park
14 MarchShanghai SprintShanghai International Circuit
15 MarchChinese Grand PrixShanghai International Circuit
29 MarchJapanese Grand PrixSuzuka Circuit
12 AprilBahrain Grand PrixBahrain International Circuit
19 AprilSaudi Arabian Grand PrixJeddah Corniche Circuit
2 MayMiami SprintMiami International Autodrome
3 MayMiami Grand PrixMiami International Autodrome
23 MayMontreal SprintCircuit Gilles VilleneuveSprint added
24 MayGrand Prix du CanadaCircuit Gilles VilleneuveMoved from June
7 JuneGrand Prix de MonacoMonacoMoved from May
14 JuneGran Premio de Barcelona-CatalunyaCircuit de Barcelona-CatalunyaMoved from May, name changed
28 JuneGrosser Preis von ÖsterreichRed Bull Ring
4 JulySilverstone SprintSilverstone CircuitSprint added
5 JulyBritish Grand PrixSilverstone Circuit
19 JulyBelgian Grand PrixSpa-FrancorchampsNo sprint
26 JulyHungarian Grand PrixHungaroring
22 AugustZandvoort SprintCircuit ZandvoortSprint added
23 AugustDutch Grand PrixCircuit Zandvoort
6 SeptemberGran Premio d’ItaliaAutodromo Nazionale Monza
13 SeptemberGran Premio de EspañaCircuito de MADRINGNew track!
26 SeptemberAzerbaijan Grand PrixBaku City Circuit
10 OctoberSingapore SprintMarina Bay CircuitSprint added
11 OctoberSingapore Grand PrixMarina Bay Circuit
25 OctoberUnited States Grand PrixCircuit of the AmericasNo sprint
1 NovemberGran Premio de la Cuidad de MéxicoAutodromo Hermanos Rodriguez (Mexico City)
8 NovemberGrande Prêmio de São PauloAutodromo Carlos Pace (Interlagos)No sprint
21 NovemberLas Vegas Grand PrixLas Vegas Strip Circuit
29 NovemberQatar Grand PrixLusail International CircuitNo sprint
6 DecemberAbu Dhabi Grand PrixYas Marina Circuit

2020 Race Schedules for Google Calendar & iCal

In order to watch too much racing you will need to know when it happens.

In order to watch too much racing you will need to know when it happens.

Keep up with your favourite racing series by adding my Calendars to your Google Calendar, Apple iCal, Microsoft Outlook, or other service which supports ICAL or HTML format.

Just click the link for the race schedule you want to import and it will appear in your calendar in your browser or on your phone.

Screenshot_20181124-212802

Go here for details:

www.toomuchracing.com/calendar

Lastly, I would like to say a huge thank you to the people who have kindly donated!

I have a Paypal tip jar on the top right of the blog which is aimed at covering my site hosting fees and domain name registrations for the year. These aren’t big, just a basic WordPress.com blog plus some domain names.

I’m astonished people pay at all, let alone anything more than £2, I know acutely there are far more worthy causes than this. It does encourage me to put in the work through a dark dingy autumn and winter, so thank you.

I’m pleased to say thanks to you I’ve covered my fees and enough to keep me in cups of tea for the year as well.

[This is a pinned post on the main blog to direct traffic, please click through to the Calendar page for more details including upload schedule.]

Race Calendars: FIA WEC 2019/20

Race dates for FIA WEC 2019/20

FIA_WEC_logo    24_le_mans_logo_detail

2019 FIA WEC

*As at 26 August 2019*

1 Sep 4 Hours of Silverstone Silverstone with ELMS
6 Oct 6 Hours of Fuji Fuji Speedway
10 Nov 4 Hours of Shanghai Shanghai International
14 Dec 8 Hours of Bahrain Bahrain International
1 Feb 6 Hours of Sao Paulo Autodromo Carlos Pace
20 Mar (Friday) 1000 Miles of Sebring Sebring International with IMSA
25 Apr 6 Hours of Spa Spa-Francorchamps
13-14 Jun 24 Heures du Mans Circuit de la Sarthe

From Autumn to Summer & New Race Lengths

The FIA World Endurance Championship (FIA WEC) returns to an annual schedule again, after the transition of the long “Superseason” which included two editions of the Le Mans 24H, with every season now starting in the autumn.

The 2019/20 season will be the first in WEC to run through the Northern Hemisphere’s autumn/winter/spring, with summer being the new off-season.

The other change this season is to vary the race distances following fan survey feedback which asked the series to mix up the race lengths from race to race, rather than have every round being 6 Hours except for the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The season opener (this week!) is the 4 Hours of Silverstone. On the one hand it seems a little harsh to chop two hours from one of the most popular rounds of the season and I am disappointed by it. On the other hand, this is the only routine WEC round to feature a further 4 hour race for the European Le Mans series on the Saturday. 8 hours of multi-class racing is quite a good deal. ELMS races are can be quite frantic, I wonder if we’ll see that intensity in WEC again?

Similarly, the other big sports car festival is the successful Sebring event. The WEC joins up for the second time with the popular IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship weekend. IMSA retains the prestigious, decades-old 12 Hours of Sebring, with the WEC running a separate 1000 Mile (8 Hour) race on the Friday evening. It works where COTA didn’t because it is simple: put the sports car racing in front of the sports car fans.

Fuji, Shanghai and Spa all continue on the calendar although Shanghai is reduced to a 4 hour race. Fuji is popular among Japanese fans. I really do think the Asian Le Mans Series should share a weekend with WEC either at Fuji or Shanghai. Then the WEC would pair with all the continental series at least once.

Bahrain returns after a year away and is extended to an 8-hour ‘into-the-night’ race. Interlagos is back after a few years away, this time the race will be on February 1st. These two rounds eliminate the massive gap between Shanghai and Sebring. Indeed Bahrain’s race is just 10 days before Christmas – there is no off-season these days!

And of course Le Mans is on the traditional 13th/14th June weekend.

End Of An Era

And this will be the final season with the current LMP1 cars. Quite what the “hypercar” era will bring us 12 months from now isn’t quite clear, at the moment it looks like two Toyotas, two Aston Martins and a whole lot of unknowns.

“Hypercar” is planned to be some 8-10 seconds slower around Le Mans than a current LMP1 car, a similar pace to a current LMP2 car. That’s probably 3-4 seconds slower at somewhere like Silverstone.

So you can expect both sets of existing prototypes to be slowed down to run behind the new ‘premier class’. GTE cars shouldn’t be affected. Therefore this is the final WEC season where you can watch this generation of LMP1 and LMP2 cars unrestricted.

And I’ve seen that Toyota TS050 live (and the Porsche 919 when it was there). You want to see that acceleration and direction change in person while you can.

Links

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