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The new year will see the long awaited arrival of Audi and Cadillac, the return of Ford and a new venue in Madrid.
Formula 1 has revealed the calendar for the 2026 season. Image: Joe Klamar / AFP
With a third of this year’s championship already done, Formula 1 has released the calendar for the 2026 season that will, again, start in March with the Australian Grand Prix.
New street track
Ahead of this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix, the 24 round programme for 2026 continues to conclude with Abu Dhabi in early December, but with changes to improve what it calls “geographical flow”.
As such, Canada moves from June to May directly after Miami, leaving Monaco as the first European round. Gone, though, is Imola, which has hosted the renamed Emilia Romagna Grand Prix since the global pandemic in 2020.
The biggest inclusion is the new Madrid street race that ends the European season in September, before the Asian and American legs kick off with Baku in Azerbaijan at the end of the same month.
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Aside from Imola, 2026 will also be the final running of the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, which made its comeback in 2021 after a 35-year absence.
A move, at the time, that hinted at the return of South Africa and Kyalami, no official word from Formula 1 or the FIA continues to be about the sport making its return to Africa for the first time since 1993.
New manufactures
The main drawing for 2026 will, however, see the long awaited debuts of Audi and Cadillac, the former becoming what is presently known as Sauber, while the latter will be an all-new team with indirect backing from the Andretti Group.
A returnee, though, is Ford, who joins Red Bull for the first time since powering the defunct Jordan team in 2004.
“2026 will be a new era for Formula 1 where we will witness a brand-new set of regulations for our sport, the cars and the engines that will be powered by 100% sustainable fuel,” F1 President and CEO, Stefano Domenicali, said in a statement.
“It promises to be an unforgettable season, where once again we will come together at 24 amazing global venues to watch the best drivers in the world push themselves to the limit and produce incredible wheel to wheel racing for our millions of fans watching around the globe”.
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