P1racenews AI automatic summary:
The Australian Grand Prix will be the opening round of the 2026 Formula 1 season, while newcomer Madrid gets a September date and Imola is dropped
The 2026 Formula 1 season will kick off with the Australian Grand Prix as the opening round, while the new Madrid race has a September date and the Imola round has been removed from the calendar.
Melbourne will host the first race with F1’s new car and engine rules on March 8, followed by a double-header with the Chinese Grand Prix to start the season.
The Bahrain-Saudi Arabia races will be slightly later in April to respect Ramadan, and the Japanese Grand Prix will stand alone on March 29 before a back-to-back with Bahrain and Saudi two weeks later.
Miami and Canada will remain standalone events, Monaco will shift to June 7 to avoid clashing with the Indianapolis 500, and there will be two more European double headers before the summer break at the end of July.
The season will resume with the final Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort on August 23, followed by back-to-back races at Monza and the new Madrid circuit in September, and standalone races in Azerbaijan and Singapore in October.
The season will conclude with two triple-headers across Austin, Mexico, Brazil, Las Vegas, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi, ending on December 6. Pre-season testing will be split across three tests in January and February, setting the stage for an action-packed season in 2026.
