Madrid Grand Prix 2026: Start Time, Madring Circuit and How to Watch

The race weekend runs Friday September 11 to Sunday September 13, 2026. The grand prix itself starts on Sunday September 13 at 15:00 CEST, which is 14:00 BST in the UK and 9 a.m. ET in the United States. Sources: ESPN, MADRING.

Lights out is 15:00 local time (CEST) on Sunday September 13. Working back through the weekend: Practice 1 at 13:30 CEST and Practice 2 at 17:00 CEST on Friday, Practice 3 at 12:30 CEST and qualifying at 16:00 CEST on Saturday. UK viewers see those as 12:30, 16:00, 11:30 and 15:00 BST. Source: ESPN.

At the Madring, a new circuit wrapped around the IFEMA Madrid exhibition centre, across the Valdebebas and Hortaleza districts in the north east of the city. It sits roughly five minutes from Adolfo Suarez Madrid-Barajas airport, which makes it one of the most accessible venues on the calendar. Sources: MADRING, ESPN.

5.4 km with 22 corners, run over 57 laps for a total race distance of about 308 km. It is a hybrid layout: part genuine street circuit through public roads, part purpose-built permanent sections inside the IFEMA grounds. Sources: MADRING, ESPN.

It is the signature corner, at turn 12: a 550 metre banked curve on a gradient of up to 24 percent, designed as a nod to the shape of a Spanish bullring, which is where the name comes from. Nothing else on the current calendar looks like it, and it is the part of the lap drivers have talked about most before the weekend. Source: ESPN.

Both cities are on the 2026 calendar, which is the confusing part. The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya hosted its own race in June 2026, while the event officially titled the Gran Premio de Espana has moved to Madrid from 2026. Madrid holds the Spanish Grand Prix name under a deal that runs to 2035. Sources: Formula1.com, MADRING.

1981, at the Jarama circuit outside the city, which hosted the Spanish Grand Prix for the last time that year. The Madring race is therefore Madrid's first world championship round in 45 years, and the first ever held inside the city itself. Source: ESPN.

In the UK, Sky Sports F1 carries every session live and Channel 4 shows free highlights of the race. In the United States, coverage is on the Apple TV F1 channel, which took over F1 rights for 2026. Spanish coverage is on the domestic rights holder. Source: ESPN.

Kimi Antonelli, on form. The Mercedes driver won at Monza from 19th on the grid, his seventh win of 2026, and leads the drivers' championship by 66 points from teammate George Russell. Mercedes straight line speed suits the long full throttle stretches at IFEMA, though a first visit to a new circuit tends to shuffle the order more than usual. Sources: ESPN, Sky Sports.

After the Italian Grand Prix, round 13 of 23, Antonelli leads on 267 points, 66 clear of George Russell. Max Verstappen was third at Monza ahead of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, with Lewis Hamilton sixth for Ferrari. Sources: RacingNews365, Sky Sports.

FIA Formula 2 and Formula 3 are confirmed as support categories, and they are part of the full Madrid agreement rather than a one-off, so they run in Madrid for the length of the deal. Source: MADRING.

Dry and hot. Forecasts ahead of the weekend point to around 30C across Friday and Saturday, rising to about 33C on race day. Madrid in September is one of the warmer stops left on the calendar, and track temperature will matter for tyre degradation on an unknown surface. Source: ESPN.

Partly. It is best described as a hybrid: about half the lap uses public roads around Valdebebas and Hortaleza that close for the event, and the rest is permanent track built on IFEMA land. That mix is why it can carry a banked corner like La Monumental, which a pure street layout could not accommodate. Sources: MADRING, ESPN.

Madrid signed for 2026 to 2035, a ten year term, with Formula 2 and Formula 3 included for the duration. Source: MADRING.