Race Start
Sunday, September 13 at 9:00 AM EDT
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Free .ics download — sessions appear in your local time in Google, Apple & Outlook calendars.
Round 14 of 22 · Madring · September 11–13, 2026
Free .ics download — sessions appear in your local time in Google, Apple & Outlook calendars.
| Session | Eastern | Central | Mountain | Pacific |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Practice 1 | Fri, Sep 11, 7:30 AM EDT | Fri, Sep 11, 6:30 AM CDT | Fri, Sep 11, 5:30 AM MDT | Fri, Sep 11, 4:30 AM PDT |
| Practice 2 | Fri, Sep 11, 11:00 AM EDT | Fri, Sep 11, 10:00 AM CDT | Fri, Sep 11, 9:00 AM MDT | Fri, Sep 11, 8:00 AM PDT |
| Practice 3 | Sat, Sep 12, 6:30 AM EDT | Sat, Sep 12, 5:30 AM CDT | Sat, Sep 12, 4:30 AM MDT | Sat, Sep 12, 3:30 AM PDT |
| Qualifying | Sat, Sep 12, 10:00 AM EDT | Sat, Sep 12, 9:00 AM CDT | Sat, Sep 12, 8:00 AM MDT | Sat, Sep 12, 7:00 AM PDT |
| Race | Sun, Sep 13, 9:00 AM EDT | Sun, Sep 13, 8:00 AM CDT | Sun, Sep 13, 7:00 AM MDT | Sun, Sep 13, 6:00 AM PDT |
Brand new for 2026: the Madring, a hybrid street-and-permanent circuit around Madrid's IFEMA exhibition district, hosting Spain's second Grand Prix of the season. Its headline feature is a huge banked corner — one of the steepest in modern F1 — and a layout no team has real data for. New circuits reset the pecking order for a weekend: simulator quality and driver adaptability matter more than the car's championship position.
The Madring is 2026's great unknown: a 5.47 km hybrid circuit around the IFEMA exhibition center on Madrid's northeastern edge, mixing purpose-built sections with public roads. Its signature is a huge, steeply banked left-hander — nicknamed 'La Monumental' — that wraps around an arena and is unlike anything else on the calendar, plus a 22-corner layout with significant elevation change and a long full-throttle stretch for overtaking.
Nobody has meaningful data: teams arrive with simulator models built from survey maps, drivers learn the track on foot and in the sim, and the first practice laps of the weekend will be genuine exploration. History says new street-style venues produce green, evolving track surfaces, close walls, safety cars, and at least one strategy gamble that steals a podium. Expect qualifying to overdeliver on drama — nobody knows where the limit is until someone finds it the hard way.
Madrid last hosted Formula 1 at the Jarama circuit north of the city, home of the Spanish Grand Prix on and off until 1981 — Gilles Villeneuve's famous last win, holding off a four-car train for 60 laps, happened there. The 2026 Madrid Grand Prix brings the World Championship back to the capital after 45 years, on a ten-year contract that signals F1's continued bet on destination street events in major cities.
Sunday morning start in the US, like the other European rounds. First-ever races at new circuits are unpredictable by nature — expect evolving grip, surprise qualifying results, and at least one strategy gamble that pays off big. Worth watching practice highlights just to learn the track with the drivers.
Standard European timing: 9 AM Eastern / 6 AM Pacific on Sunday morning. For a first-ever race at a new circuit, the earlier sessions are unusually worth your time — Friday practice (US morning) is where you'll learn the track alongside the drivers, and a new-venue qualifying session almost always produces at least one shock result. Treat the whole weekend as appointment viewing; first editions only happen once.
The race starts Sunday, September 13 at 9:00 AM EDT. That's 8:00 AM CDT Central, 7:00 AM MDT Mountain, and 6:00 AM PDT Pacific.
No, it uses the standard format: three practice sessions, qualifying (Saturday, September 12 at 10:00 AM EDT), and the Grand Prix.
57 laps of the 5.47 km Madring, a race distance of about 312 km.
Not in 2026 — both races run this season. Barcelona hosts the Spanish Grand Prix in June and Madrid debuts the Madrid Grand Prix in September, giving Spain two rounds of the same championship.
New to Formula 1 or planning your viewing weekend? Read our guides to watching F1 in the US, how a race weekend works, and why F1 start times vary.