Next Formula 1 race is in
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Formula 1 countdown
Formula 1 is the FIA’s top single-seater championship, contested over roughly 24 Grands Prix from March to December each year. The countdown above ticks down to the next race on the current calendar.
When does the F1 season run?
A modern Formula 1 season spans about nine months, with these anchor points:
- Pre-season testing — usually a 3-day group test in Bahrain in late February.
- Season opener — the first race is typically in early-to-mid March. Recent opening venues have included Bahrain (2024, 2027 planned) and Australia (2025, 2026).
- Summer break — a mandatory factory shutdown of around two weeks in August.
- European leg — the calendar’s middle section runs through May (Monaco, Spain, Imola), June (Canada) and the European summer rounds at Silverstone, Spa, Hungary, etc.
- Flyaways and finale — the late-season races move through Asia, the Americas and the Middle East, finishing with Abu Dhabi at Yas Marina in late November or early December.
Upcoming Formula 1 calendar highlights
The 2026 season is fully under way and the 2027 calendar is being shaped. Key dates currently expected:
| Season | Season opener | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Australian GP — March 8, 2026 (Albert Park, Melbourne) | First race under new 2026 chassis and power-unit regulations. Audi and Cadillac debut on the grid. |
| 2027 | Bahrain GP — March 14, 2027 (Sakhir) provisional | Australia expected to lose the opening slot; Bahrain returns as round 1 with Ramadan ending March 7. |
| 2028 | Early-to-mid March 2028 (TBD) | Calendar not yet released. The season is expected to remain at roughly 24 rounds. |
| 2029 | Early-to-mid March 2029 (TBD) | The 2026 regulation cycle is contracted to run through at least 2030, so cars in 2029 will be evolutions of the current spec. |
| 2030 | Early-to-mid March 2030 (TBD) | Provisional final season of the current regulation set before the next major overhaul. |
The countdown above tracks the next confirmed race on the current F1 calendar.
A brief history of Formula 1
Formula 1 was created under regulations published by the FIA in 1946 and contested its first World Championship season in 1950. The opening round was the British Grand Prix at Silverstone on May 13, 1950 — won by Giuseppe Farina, who went on to become the first F1 World Champion. The Constructors’ Championship was added in 1958 to formally award points to teams as well as drivers.
The sport has gone through several distinct eras: the 1.5L and 3.0L atmospheric engines of the 1960s and 70s, the turbo era of the 1980s (up to 1,500 hp in qualifying trim), the V10 era of the late 1990s and 2000s, the high-revving V8s of 2006–2013, the V6 turbo-hybrid era from 2014, and the new 2026 power units with roughly 50% electrical contribution running on fully sustainable fuel.
How a race weekend works
A standard F1 weekend follows a fixed pattern:
- Friday: Free Practice 1 (60 min) and Free Practice 2 (60 min).
- Saturday: Free Practice 3 (60 min), then Qualifying — three knockout sessions (Q1 18 min, Q2 15 min, Q3 12 min) that set the grid.
- Sunday: the race — the lesser of 305 km (260 km for Monaco) or a two-hour cumulative running time.
Around six rounds per year are Sprint weekends. Friday includes one free practice and Sprint Qualifying; Saturday has the Sprint race (100 km, ~30 minutes) followed by Qualifying for Sunday’s Grand Prix. Sprint points (8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 to the top 8) are awarded separately and don’t affect Sunday’s grid.
Iconic circuits on the F1 calendar
Several venues anchor every season:
- Monaco — the slowest, narrowest, most prestigious street circuit. On the calendar in every season since 1955.
- Silverstone — hosted the very first Championship race in 1950 and remains the home of the British Grand Prix.
- Monza — the “Temple of Speed”, Ferrari’s home race in Italy.
- Spa-Francorchamps — the longest circuit on the calendar at 7.0 km, with Eau Rouge / Raidillon arguably the sport’s most famous corner.
- Suzuka — Japan’s figure-eight technical layout.
- Yas Marina — the season-ending night race in Abu Dhabi since 2014.
Sources & references
- Formula1.com — official site of the F1 World Championship. Primary source for calendars, results and timing data.
- Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) — the sport’s governing body, responsible for the Sporting and Technical Regulations.
- F1 Results & standings — official driver and constructor standings, lap times and race classifications.
FAQs
The countdown above tracks the next race on the current F1 calendar. The 2026 season opened with the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park, Melbourne on March 8, 2026, and runs approximately 24 races through to the season finale in December. The 2027 season is expected to open with the Bahrain Grand Prix on March 14, 2027.
A modern F1 season runs from early March to late November or early December, typically with 24 races spread across roughly 38 weekends — meaning around 14 “off” weekends, including summer and Christmas breaks. The summer shutdown is a mandatory two-week factory closure across all teams in August.
A standard F1 race weekend runs Friday to Sunday. Friday has two free practice sessions; Saturday has one final free practice followed by qualifying (Q1, Q2 and Q3 knockout sessions); Sunday is the race itself over roughly 305 km or two hours, whichever comes first. Around six weekends each year are Sprint weekends, where Friday includes Sprint Qualifying and Saturday includes a Sprint race awarding points to the top eight.
The 2026 season introduced the biggest rules overhaul in years: a redesigned chassis, smaller and lighter cars, active aerodynamics, and a new power unit running on 100% sustainable fuel with roughly a 50/50 split between internal combustion and electrical power. Audi and Cadillac joined the grid as new constructors, and Ford returned as a power unit partner to Red Bull Powertrains after a 21-year absence.
Points go to the top 10 finishers on a 25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1 scale, plus one bonus point for setting the fastest lap if the driver finishes in the top 10. Sprint races award a smaller 8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 scale to the top 8. Drivers contest the Drivers’ Championship; teams (constructors) contest the Constructors’ Championship. Both titles run on the same points but tallied differently.
F1 is open-wheel single-seater racing on mostly purpose-built circuits, with races of about two hours and one driver per car. IndyCar is a US-centric single-seater series featuring oval tracks (most famously the Indy 500) alongside road courses, with spec chassis to control costs. The World Endurance Championship (WEC) uses sports-prototype and GT cars in multi-driver, multi-hour races up to 24 hours at Le Mans — a completely different category of motorsport.