F1 forced into schedule change after Grand Prix | Sports News

The Azerbaijan Grand Prix is set for a schedule shift within the 2026 season, shifting from its conventional Sunday slot to Saturday. This change comes after the occasion’s organisers requested an adjustment to honor a national day.

F1 unveiled their calendar for the inaugural yr beneath new laws earlier this month, putting Azerbaijan’s staple road race between Madrid’s new circuit debut and the favored United States Grand Prix on the Circuit of the Americas.

However, these mapping out the 2026 season will need to pencil in a slight alteration. The Azerbaijan GP will now begin on Wednesday, September 24, with FP1 and FP2 taking place on Thursday, adopted by FP3 and qualifying on Friday, culminating within the race on Sunday.

This rescheduling is in response to a “request from the Azerbaijan promoter and relevant government stakeholders”.

In addition to the Azerbaijan GP replace, F1 introduced additional calendar particulars on Monday. The pre-season testing dates for the 2026 season have been disclosed, that includes a new format to coincide with the primary yr of the contemporary laws.

From January 26 to January 30, groups will conduct a non-public check on the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, offering all 11 groups the chance to check their new vehicles and energy models on the monitor for the primary time.

The upcoming Formula 1 calendar consists of a essential three-day check at Bahrain International Circuit from February 11 to February 13, adopted by one other week of testing on the identical venue – this rounds off the pre-season preparations for the 2026 season.

The extra testing periods come as excellent news for groups, particularly Cadillac, which is gearing up for its debut on the F1 grid in 2026. The US crew hasn’t introduced its drivers but, however hypothesis suggests they’re contemplating large names like Valtteri Bottas, Sergio Perez, Felipe Drugovich, and Colton Herta.

Cadillac’s crew principal Graeme Lowdon emphasised their dedication to excellence in dialog with Motorsport.com: “We’ll select drivers on merit,” he stated, not ruling out the likelihood of an American driver. “Having a driver on merit doesn’t mean you can’t have an American passport as well. We’ve got a lot to choose from. But also, you can’t just judge an F1 team on what they’re doing this year or next year. The team’s here to stay. I think the fans would love to see an American driver in an American team.

“There’s nothing stopping that from taking place, however we have simply acquired to go forward and choose on advantage and construct a crew, as a result of there are a few very skilled drivers out there. We weren’t capable of take part within the final spherical of driver negotiations, so we’re out of sync with a lot of different groups. But there’s some benefits to that as properly. There’s a lot of superb drivers out there on the minute. As and once we put the driving force lineup collectively, no matter it’s, it’s going to be a sturdy one.”