For the first time in history, a Formula 1 race will have a direct, real-time, clash with the Indianapolis 500 as the 2026 grand prix calendar was revealed on Tuesday.
The decision means racing fans will need to choose between the two events, something that has not been well received if comments on social media and platforms like Reddit are anything to go by.
Although the traditional start time for the Indianapolis 500 has shifted over the decades, the race now starts at 12.45pm EDT, or 5.45pm UK time.
The Canadian GP kicks off at 2pm EDT — or 7pm UK time — meaning the race will start while the Indy 500 is, under normal circumstances, around its halfway point.
In previous seasons, it was the Monaco Grand Prix that had clashed with the IndyCar classic, but it had never been a direct clash, as the Monte Carlo race started and ended several hours before the green flag was waved at the Indianapolis 500.
So why has Formula 1 decided to clash with the world’s biggest racing event?
The sustainability argument
Monaco’s latest contract was signed on the proviso that the race would move from its traditional May date to a June slot in order to allow F1 to get the first two North American races – Miami and Canada – closer together.
The Indy 500 drew massive attention in 2025
Getty Images
The current calendar has three races – Imola, Monaco and Barcelona – in between Miami and Canada. Next year’s calendar will have Miami on 1-3 May and then Canada three weeks later, with no races in between.
From a sustainability point of view, the new calendar makes a little more sense, as most of the teams’ equipment can stay in North America for those three weeks without having to travel back to Europe only to fly back to Canada again.
From a personnel point of view, however, it would make more sense to have Miami and Canada as back-to-back races, as most F1 and team staff will still travel back to Europe during the three-week ‘break’.
Considering business travel — all individuals’ air and ground transportation — constitutes nearly 28% of F1’s carbon footprint, the impact of not having to travel back to Europe and then again to North America would be a considerable gain in terms of sustainability.
Nevertheless, F1 logistics – that is, all road, air or sea logistics including the movement of team equipment, F1 equipment, Paddock Club equipment and race tyres – makes up 45% of the series’ total footprint, so if all that equipment is not shipped back and forth between North America and Europe, the impact can be quite significant.
That, along with some other changes, has made the 2026 calendar more efficient.
There is now an uninterrupted European stretch from early June (Monaco) to mid-September (Madrid), further reducing unnecessary transcontinental freight movement.
After the European races, the calendar flows to Asia, then the Americas, and finally concludes in the Middle East. So, as F1 promised, the schedule is now more regionalised and makes more sense from a sustainability viewpoint.
Is F1 being arrogant?
All that is well and good, but why didn’t F1 just schedule Canada right after, or even two weeks after, Miami to avoid a direct clash with the Indy 500 and save all personnel two trips, from Miami to Europe and then to Canada?
F1 announces its 2026 schedule: 24 races on the calendar as Imola is dropped, Madrid arrives and the Canadian Grand Prix clashes directly with the Indianapolis 500
By
Pablo Elizalde
The Indianapolis 500 remains the largest single-day sporting event in the world by in-person attendance and still one of the most-watched annual events in North America, if not worldwide.
Therefore it is no wonder that making the Canadian GP clash can be seen as an arrogant decision from F1 chiefs, and a move that the Montreal organisers themselves can’t be too pleased about given the impact it could have on both attendance and viewership.
The Canadian GP bosses were already known to be reticent about a May date given the weather is likely to be worse than in its traditional mid-June date.
That was perhaps one of the considerations when deciding not to have the Montreal race closer to Miami. Another might have been that having two American races so close to each other could devalue them.
However, despite growing interest in F1 from North American fans, going head-to-head with the Indy 500 is a decision that could backfire.
Even NASCAR, the US’s biggest racing series, has made accommodations to avoid an Indy 500 clash with the Coca-Cola 600, one of its biggest races.
There’s still time for F1 to try to figure out a way to avoid a direct clash, even if it means moving the start time in Montreal by at least two hours, but many racing fans will still decide to attend one event over the other.
F1’s direct goal may not have been to undermine IndyCar, but that’s how the clash will be seen regardless of its intentions. The Indy 500 is unlikely to blink, but it will be interesting to see if F1 eventually does.
