The 2026 Formula 1 season is scheduled to get underway this Sunday, March 8 with the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park Circuit, the traditional site of the sport's season opener, and the 2026 season is once again set to feature 24 races, tying the record that was set in 2024 and tied in 2025.
The same 24 venues that hosted Grands Prix in 2024 hosted Grands Prix in 2025. However, that is not the case this time around.
Two countries are still set to host multiple races, with the United States leading the way with three at Miami International Autodrome, Circuit of the Americas, and the Las Vegas Strip Circuit. However, the country set to host two in 2026 is Spain, not Italy like it has been in years past.
The Spanish Grand Prix is now set to be held at the new Madring street circuit in Madrid, Spain on Sunday, September 13, while the traditional Spanish Grand Prix at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is now set to be known as the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix on Sunday, June 14.
As for Italy, Monza is still scheduled to host the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday, September 6, but Imola is no longer on the calendar.
Imola removed from F1 schedule for 2026
Imola returned to the schedule unexpectedly as the host of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in 2020, as it was added due the fact that a number of other venues had to be scrapped from the calendar due to COVID-19-related restrictions. It has been on the schedule every year since, although the race was canceled in 2023 due to flooding.
Prior to 2020, the 21-turn, 3.05-mile (4.908-kilometer) Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari road course in Imola, Emilia-Romagna had not hosted a Formula 1 race since 2006. Prior to its removal from the schedule after 2006, it had hosted one race each year since 1980.
After Lewis Hamilton won at the track in 2020, Max Verstappen went unbeaten, winning in 2021, 2022, 2024, and 2025. He also won the track's lone sprint race in 2022, and the 2023 cancellation might well have prevented Formula 1's first ever 20-win season.
There are, however, rumors that Imola could return in 2026 after all, should the conflict in the Middle East result in the cancelation of the Bahrain Grand Prix at Bahrain International Circuit, the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at Jeddah Corniche Circuit, or even both.
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