MONTREAL, QUEBEC – JUNE 15: George Russell of Great Britain driving the (63) Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team W16 leads Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (1) Oracle Red Bull Racing RB21 Oscar Piastri of Australia driving the (81) McLaren MCL39 Mercedes and the rest of the field at the start during the F1 Grand Prix of Canada at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve on June 15, 2025 in Montreal, Quebec. (Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images)
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Formula 1 heads to Montreal, Canada, this weekend for the fifth round of the 2026 season and the third sprint event from May 22-24.
Mercedes youngster Kimi Antonelli arrives on the Notre Dame island leading the world championship with 100 points to his name. The Italian driver secured victory last time out in Miami, completing a hat-trick of wins and opening up a 20-point advantage over his teammate and closest title rival George Russell.
At just 19 years old, Antonelli made history in Florida as the first-ever driver to turn his first three pole positions into race victories. He also joined the ranks of world champions Damon Hill and Mika Häkkinen as only the third driver in history to secure his first three career victories at consecutive grands prix.
Heading to Montreal this weekend, Antonelli is looking to further stretch his gap at the top, but things won’t be easy as he is expected to face a tough challenge from Russell, who will be keen to respond and replicate last year’s triumph at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve.
Russell was the early championship favorite, having started his campaign strong with a victory in the season opener in Melbourne. It has since been Antonelli’s show however, with Russell managing only that one race victory compared to the Italian’s three.
Now as the championship arrives at a circuit that suits him well, Russell has a good chance to chip away at the 20-point gap and put some pressure on his teammate at the top.
Aside from Mercedes’ intra-team battle, McLaren will also be on the hunt for their first grand prix win of the season this weekend after coming close in Miami, having secured second and third through Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri thanks to new upgrades that brought them much closer to the front.
Another team to keep an eye on is Ferrari, who will be aiming to bounce back after missing the podium in Miami for the first time this season.
MONTREAL, QUEBEC – JUNE 15: George Russell of Great Britain driving the (63) Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team W16 leads Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (1) Oracle Red Bull Racing RB21 Oscar Piastri of Australia driving the (81) McLaren MCL39 Mercedes and the rest of the field at the start during the F1 Grand Prix of Canada at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve on June 15, 2025 in Montreal, Quebec. (Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images)
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Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve Stats
- First Grand Prix: 1978
- Circuit Length: 4.361km (2.710 miles)
- Race Distance: 305.27km (189.686 miles)
- Number of Laps: 70
- Number of Turns: 14
- Fastest Lap Time: 1:13.078 (Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes, 2019)
- Most Wins (Driver): Lewis Hamilton (7), Michael Schumacher (7)
- Most Wins (Constructor): Ferrari (11)
- Most Pole Positions (Driver): Lewis Hamilton (6), Michael Schumacher (6)
- Most Pole Positions (Constructor): Ferrari (8), McLaren (8), Williams (8)
- 2025 Race Winner: George Russell (Mercedes)
F1 Canadian Grand Prix 2026 Schedule
Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve plays host to round five and the third sprint of the season this weekend. This means teams will only have one practice session to dial in their cars and gather crucial data.
The sole practice session (FP1) kicks off at 12:30 p.m. local time (EDT) on Friday, May 22, followed by sprint qualifying later in the day at 4:30 p.m.
On Saturday, May 23, drivers will battle it out in the 100km sprint at 12 p.m. before fighting for starting grid positions in the grand prix qualifying at 4 p.m.
The main race will kick off at 4 p.m. on Sunday, May 24.
Canadian Grand Prix 2026: Free Practice 1 Start Times
All below start times are on Friday unless stated otherwise.
- Local Time (EDT): 12:30 p.m.
- United States and Canada (CDT): 11:30 a.m.
- United States and Canada (PDT): 9:30 a.m.
- United States and Canada (MDT): 10:30 a.m.
- United Kingdom (BST): 5:30 p.m.
- Central European Time (CEST): 6:30 p.m.
- Australia (AEST): 2:30 a.m. on Saturday
- Australia (AWST): 12:30 a.m. on Saturday
- Australia (ACST): 2 a.m. on Saturday
- BrasÃlia, Brazil: 1:30 p.m.
- Mexico City, Mexico: 10:30 a.m.
- Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: 7:30 p.m.
- Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: 8:30 p.m.
- Ankara, Turkey: 7:30 p.m.
- Tokyo, Japan (JST): 1:30 a.m. on Saturday
- Beijing, China (CST): 12:30 a.m. on Saturday
- Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: 12:30 a.m. on Saturday
- New Delhi, India (IST): 10 p.m.
Canadian Grand Prix 2026: Sprint Qualifying Start Times
All below start times are on Friday unless stated otherwise.
- Local Time (EDT): 4:30 p.m.
- United States and Canada (CDT): 3:30 p.m.
- United States and Canada (PDT): 1:30 p.m.
- United States and Canada (MDT): 2:30 p.m.
- United Kingdom (BST): 9:30 p.m.
- Central European Time (CEST): 10:30 p.m.
- Australia (AEST): 6:30 a.m. on Saturday
- Australia (AWST): 4:30 a.m. on Saturday
- Australia (ACST): 6 a.m. on Saturday
- BrasÃlia, Brazil: 5:30 p.m.
- Mexico City, Mexico: 2:30 p.m.
- Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: 11:30 p.m.
- Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: 12:30 a.m. on Saturday
- Ankara, Turkey: 11:30 p.m.
- Tokyo, Japan (JST): 5:30 a.m. on Saturday
- Beijing, China (CST): 4:30 a.m. on Saturday
- Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: 4:30 a.m. on Saturday
- New Delhi, India (IST): 2 a.m. on Saturday
Canadian Grand Prix 2026: Sprint Start Times
All below start times are on Saturday unless stated otherwise.
- Local Time (EDT): 12 p.m.
- United States and Canada (CDT): 11 a.m.
- United States and Canada (PDT): 9 a.m.
- United States and Canada (MDT): 10 a.m.
- United Kingdom (BST): 5 p.m.
- Central European Time (CEST): 6 p.m.
- Australia (AEST): 2 a.m. on Sunday
- Australia (AWST): 12 a.m. on Sunday
- Australia (ACST): 1:30 a.m. on Sunday
- BrasÃlia, Brazil: 1 p.m.
- Mexico City, Mexico: 10 a.m.
- Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: 7 p.m.
- Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: 8 p.m.
- Ankara, Turkey: 7 p.m.
- Tokyo, Japan (JST): 1 a.m. on Sunday
- Beijing, China (CST): 12 a.m. on Sunday
- Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: 12 a.m. on Sunday
- New Delhi, India (IST): 9:30 p.m.
Canadian Grand Prix 2026: Qualifying Start Times
All below start times are on Saturday unless stated otherwise.
- Local Time (EDT): 4 p.m.
- United States and Canada (CDT): 3 p.m.
- United States and Canada (PDT): 1 p.m.
- United States and Canada (MDT): 2 p.m.
- United Kingdom (BST): 9 p.m.
- Central European Time (CEST): 10 p.m.
- Australia (AEST): 6 a.m. on Sunday
- Australia (AWST): 4 a.m. on Sunday
- Australia (ACST): 5:30 a.m. on Sunday
- BrasÃlia, Brazil: 5 p.m.
- Mexico City, Mexico: 2 p.m.
- Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: 11 p.m.
- Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: 12 a.m. on Sunday
- Ankara, Turkey: 11 p.m.
- Tokyo, Japan (JST): 5 a.m. on Sunday
- Beijing, China (CST): 4 a.m. on Sunday
- Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: 4 a.m. on Sunday
- New Delhi, India (IST): 1:30 a.m. on Sunday
Canadian Grand Prix 2026: Race Start Times
All below start times are on Sunday unless stated otherwise.
- Local Time (EDT): 4 p.m.
- United States and Canada (CDT): 3 p.m.
- United States and Canada (PDT): 1 p.m.
- United States and Canada (MDT): 2 p.m.
- United Kingdom (BST): 9 p.m.
- Central European Time (CEST): 10 p.m.
- Australia (AEST): 6 a.m. on Monday
- Australia (AWST): 4 a.m. on Monday
- Australia (ACST): 5:30 a.m. on Monday
- BrasÃlia, Brazil: 5 p.m.
- Mexico City, Mexico: 2 p.m.
- Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: 11 p.m.
- Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: 12 a.m. on Monday
- Ankara, Turkey: 11 p.m.
- Tokyo, Japan (JST): 5 a.m. on Monday
- Beijing, China (CST): 4 a.m. on Monday
- Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: 4 a.m. on Monday
- New Delhi, India (IST): 1:30 a.m. on Monday
How To Watch 2026 F1 Canadian Grand Prix
Fans in the United States can catch all the action of the Canadian Grand Prix on Apple TV, with Netflix also jointly streaming it, marking the first time the platform will broadcast a live F1 race.
Meanwhile viewers in the United Kingdom can tune in to Sky Sports for extensive coverage of the weekend, with highlights available for free on Channel 4.
In select regions, F1 TV Pro subscribers can tune in for live coverage on any device, along with the opportunity to catch up on full session replays and highlights afterwards.
Below is the broadcast information for some key territories:
- United States: Apple TV
- United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland: Sky Sports
- Canada: RDS, RDS 2, TSN, Noovo
- Italy: Sky Italia
- Netherlands: Viaplay TV
- Belgium: RTBF, Play Sports
- Australia: Fox Sports, Foxtel, Kayo
- Japan: Fuji TV
- Austria: Servus TV, ORF
- China: Shanghai TV, Guangdong Television Channel, Tencent
- New Zealand: Sky NZ
- Spain: DAZN
- Germany: Sky Deutschland, RTL
- France: Canal+
- Portugal: DAZN
- Mexico: TUDN, Sky Sports, Izzi
- Singapore: beIN SPORTS
- Brazil: TV Globo, sportv
- Middle East and Turkey: beIN SPORTS
- Latin America: ESPN
- Africa: SuperSport
Highlights from each day of the 2026 Canadian Grand Prix weekend will be available on F1’s YouTube channel.