Formula 1
Why McLaren's F1 title defence has started so horribly
McLaren's F1 title defence has begun miserably, and it faces bigger problems than the embarrassment of both cars failing to start in China
Formula 1 2026 Race Schedule
Choose timezone
Round 1March 6-8, 2026Australian Grand Prix
Session
Date
Time
Practice 1
Fri Mar 6
12:30-13:30
Practice 2
Fri Mar 6
16:00-17:00
Practice 3
Sat Mar 7
12:30-13:30
Qualifying
Sat Mar 7
16:00-17:00
Race
Sun Mar 8
15:00-17:00
Round 2March 13-15, 2026Chinese Grand Prix
Session
Date
Time
Practice 1
Fri Mar 13
11:30-12:30
Qualifying
Fri Mar 13
15:30-16:14
Sprint
Sat Mar 14
11:00-12:00
Qualifying
Sat Mar 14
15:00-16:00
Race
Sun Mar 15
15:00-17:00
Round 3March 27-29, 2026Japanese Grand Prix
Session
Date
Time
Practice 1
Fri Mar 27
11:30-12:30
Practice 2
Fri Mar 27
15:00-16:00
Practice 3
Sat Mar 28
11:30-12:30
Qualifying
Sat Mar 28
15:00-16:00
Race
Sun Mar 29
14:00-16:00
Round 4May 1-3, 2026Miami Grand Prix
Session
Date
Time
Practice 1
Fri May 1
12:30-13:30
Qualifying
Fri May 1
16:30-17:14
Sprint
Sat May 2
12:00-13:00
Qualifying
Sat May 2
16:00-17:00
Race
Sun May 3
16:00-18:00
Round 5May 22-24, 2026Canadian Grand Prix
Session
Date
Time
Practice 1
Fri May 22
12:30-13:30
Qualifying
Fri May 22
16:30-17:14
Sprint
Sat May 23
12:00-13:00
Qualifying
Sat May 23
16:00-17:00
Race
Sun May 24
16:00-18:00
Round 6June 5-7, 2026Monaco Grand Prix
Session
Date
Time
Practice 1
Fri Jun 5
13:30-14:30
Practice 2
Fri Jun 5
17:00-18:00
Practice 3
Sat Jun 6
12:30-13:30
Qualifying
Sat Jun 6
16:00-17:00
Race
Sun Jun 7
15:00-17:00
Round 7June 12-14, 2026Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix
Session
Date
Time
Practice 1
Fri Jun 12
13:30-14:30
Practice 2
Fri Jun 12
17:00-18:00
Practice 3
Sat Jun 13
12:30-13:30
Qualifying
Sat Jun 13
16:00-17:00
Race
Sun Jun 14
15:00-17:00
Round 8June 26-28, 2026Austrian Grand Prix
Session
Date
Time
Practice 1
Fri Jun 26
13:30-14:30
Practice 2
Fri Jun 26
17:00-18:00
Practice 3
Sat Jun 27
12:30-13:30
Qualifying
Sat Jun 27
16:00-17:00
Race
Sun Jun 28
15:00-17:00
Round 9July 3-5, 2026British Grand Prix
Session
Date
Time
Practice 1
Fri Jul 3
12:30-13:30
Qualifying
Fri Jul 3
16:30-17:14
Sprint
Sat Jul 4
12:00-13:00
Qualifying
Sat Jul 4
16:00-17:00
Race
Sun Jul 5
15:00-17:00
Round 10July 17-19, 2026Belgian Grand Prix
Session
Date
Time
Practice 1
Fri Jul 17
13:30-14:30
Practice 2
Fri Jul 17
17:00-18:00
Practice 3
Sat Jul 18
12:30-13:30
Qualifying
Sat Jul 18
16:00-17:00
Race
Sun Jul 19
15:00-17:00
Round 11July 24-26, 2026Hungarian Grand Prix
Session
Date
Time
Practice 1
Fri Jul 24
13:30-14:30
Practice 2
Fri Jul 24
17:00-18:00
Practice 3
Sat Jul 25
12:30-13:30
Qualifying
Sat Jul 25
16:00-17:00
Race
Sun Jul 26
15:00-17:00
Round 12August 21-23, 2026Dutch Grand Prix
Session
Date
Time
Practice 1
Fri Aug 21
12:30-13:30
Qualifying
Fri Aug 21
16:30-17:14
Sprint
Sat Aug 22
12:00-13:00
Qualifying
Sat Aug 22
16:00-17:00
Race
Sun Aug 23
15:00-17:00
Round 13September 4-6, 2026Italian Grand Prix
Session
Date
Time
Practice 1
Fri Sep 4
12:30-13:30
Practice 2
Fri Sep 4
16:00-17:00
Practice 3
Sat Sep 5
12:30-13:30
Qualifying
Sat Sep 5
16:00-17:00
Race
Sun Sep 6
15:00-17:00
Round 14September 11-13, 2026Spanish Grand Prix
Session
Date
Time
Practice 1
Fri Sep 11
13:30-14:30
Practice 2
Fri Sep 11
17:00-18:00
Practice 3
Sat Sep 12
12:30-13:30
Qualifying
Sat Sep 12
16:00-17:00
Race
Sun Sep 13
15:00-17:00
Round 15September 24-26, 2026Azerbaijan Grand Prix
Session
Date
Time
Practice 1
Thu Sep 24
12:30-13:30
Practice 2
Thu Sep 24
16:00-17:00
Practice 3
Fri Sep 25
12:30-13:30
Qualifying
Fri Sep 25
16:00-17:00
Race
Sat Sep 26
15:00-17:00
Round 16October 9-11, 2026Singapore Grand Prix
Session
Date
Time
Practice 1
Fri Oct 9
17:30-18:30
Qualifying
Fri Oct 9
20:30-21:14
Sprint
Sat Oct 10
17:00-18:00
Qualifying
Sat Oct 10
21:00-22:00
Race
Sun Oct 11
20:00-22:00
Round 17October 23-25, 2026United States Grand Prix
Session
Date
Time
Practice 1
Fri Oct 23
12:30-13:30
Practice 2
Fri Oct 23
16:00-17:00
Practice 3
Sat Oct 24
12:30-13:30
Qualifying
Sat Oct 24
16:00-17:00
Race
Sun Oct 25
15:00-17:00
Round 18Oct 30 - Nov 1, 2026Mexico City Grand Prix
Session
Date
Time
Practice 1
Fri Oct 30
12:30-13:30
Practice 2
Fri Oct 30
16:00-17:00
Practice 3
Sat Oct 31
11:30-12:30
Qualifying
Sat Oct 31
15:00-16:00
Race
Sun Nov 1
14:00-16:00
Round 19November 6-8, 2026São Paulo Grand Prix
Session
Date
Time
Practice 1
Fri Nov 6
12:30-13:30
Practice 2
Fri Nov 6
16:00-17:00
Practice 3
Sat Nov 7
11:30-12:30
Qualifying
Sat Nov 7
15:00-16:00
Race
Sun Nov 8
14:00-16:00
Round 20November 19-21, 2026Las Vegas Grand Prix
Session
Date
Time
Practice 1
Thu Nov 19
16:30-17:30
Practice 2
Thu Nov 19
20:00-21:00
Practice 3
Fri Nov 20
16:30-17:30
Qualifying
Fri Nov 20
20:00-21:00
Race
Sat Nov 21
20:00-22:00
Round 21November 27-29, 2026Qatar Grand Prix
Session
Date
Time
Practice 1
Fri Nov 27
16:30-17:30
Practice 2
Fri Nov 27
20:00-21:00
Practice 3
Sat Nov 28
17:30-18:30
Qualifying
Sat Nov 28
21:00-22:00
Race
Sun Nov 29
19:00-21:00
Round 22December 4-6, 2026Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Session
Date
Time
Practice 1
Fri Dec 4
13:30-14:30
Practice 2
Fri Dec 4
17:00-18:00
Practice 3
Sat Dec 5
14:30-15:30
Qualifying
Sat Dec 5
18:00-19:00
Race
Sun Dec 6
17:00-19:00
