|
Formula 1's Canadian Grand Prix will move into May from 2026 onwards, coupling it with Miami's race and helping the championship consolidate the European leg into one singular period. In recent years Montreal's race has been an anomaly, often falling between European events which make up the middle of an F1 season. The sport has been trying to "rationalise" the calendar for a while to make it more eco-friendly and cost-efficient for teams transporting staff and equipment around the world. Nine of 2024's events took part in Europe and that run of races was only interrupted by the Canada event on June 9. F1's season tends to start in the Middle East or the Pacific before its first visit to America for the Miami Grand Prix at the beginning of May. By agreeing to move, Canada will now take place after Miami's race, before F1 starts running through its European leg, which ends shortly after the summer break in August. Monday's announcement said the switch will "remove an additional transatlantic crossing by the Formula 1 community each year." The news follows the contract extension for the Monaco Grand Prix, which will take place at the beginning of June. Both changes will come into effect in 2026 because next season's calendar already been signed off. Monaco's date change not only ended the historic clash between Monaco and the Indy 500 but also created the space for Montreal's event to move into. F1 has made several changes over recent seasons in a bid to improve the logistics of the calendar. The Japanese Grand Prix has been moved to the beginning of the year to align with the other races in the Asia-Pacific region in Australia and China, while the Azerbaijan Grand Prix went in the opposite direction to move closer to the race in Singapore. Middle Eastern events have been paired together -- Bahrain and Saudi Arabia often go back to back early in the season, while Qatar and Abu Dhabi will take place on consecutive weeks after the Las Vegas Grand Prix on Nov. 25.
|
