Monaco Grand Prix removed from Memorial Day weekend

Formula 1’s 2026 schedule broke up one of motorsport’s most familiar late-May overlaps by moving the Canadian Grand Prix onto Memorial Day weekend and pushing Monaco into June. The official F1 calendar lists Canada for May 22-24 and Monaco for June 5-7, ending the usual same-day collision between the Monaco Grand Prix and the Indianapolis 500. Formula 1 and the FIA announced that calendar structure in 2025 as part of a broader reshuffle of the 2026 season. USA Today revisited the change on Friday as Memorial Day weekend begins in the United States. ### Why isn’t Monaco on Memorial Day weekend this year? The 2026 Formula 1 calendar places the Monaco Grand Prix on June 5-7, not on the last weekend in May. That means Monaco is no longer part of the annual U.S. Memorial Day tripleheader that often included Monaco in the morning, the Indy 500 in the afternoon and NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600 at night. (formula1.com) Formula 1’s commercial side said the shift was part of “calendar rationalisation.” In a separate announcement on Canada’s scheduling change, F1 said Monaco would be held on “the first full weekend in June each year from 2026.” ### So what moved instead — Monaco or Canada? (formula1.com) Canada is the race that moved into the late-May slot. The official 2026 schedule shows the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal on May 22-24, with the race on Sunday, May 24, one week after Miami and two weeks before Monaco. Formula 1 said in June 2025 that Canada would now follow Miami in “an earlier slot” to improve the geographical flow of the calendar and reduce freight movements by allowing some equipment to travel directly between the two events. (corp.formula1.com) ### Was this change aimed at the Indy 500 clash? USA Today reported on May 22 that Monaco is absent from the 2026 “Greatest Day in Motorsport” lineup. (formula1.com) Racing outlets have also tied the calendar change to the long-running conflict between Monaco and Indianapolis. (corp.formula1.com) GPFans said Montreal was moved to avoid the usual clash between Monaco and the Indy 500, two events often linked through motorsport’s informal Triple Crown conversation. RacingNews365 reported that Canada had effectively swapped places with Monaco after moving forward from its traditional June date. That explanation aligns with the dates on the official F1 and FIA calendars, though F1’s own formal statements framed the move in logistics and calendar-efficiency terms. (usatoday.com) ### What does the 2026 late-May lineup look like now? Sunday, May 24, 2026, now belongs to the Canadian Grand Prix on the Formula 1 side. The F1 event page lists Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve in Montreal as the site of that race weekend. Monaco returns two weeks later, with the official F1 calendar listing the race weekend for June 5-7. (formula1.com) That separates Formula 1’s most famous street race from the Indy 500 weekend for the first time in years. ### When was this decided? The FIA and Formula 1 announced the 2026 world championship calendar on June 9, 2025. That release set the 24-round season and included Canada in May and Monaco in June. (formula1.com) Formula 1 followed that with a December 2024 corporate statement on Canada’s rescheduling, saying the move supported calendar rationalisation and confirming Monaco’s June placement from 2026 onward. (formula1.com) The immediate next dates are May 22-24 for the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal and June 5-7 for the Monaco Grand Prix, according to Formula 1’s official 2026 calendar. (fia.com) (formula1.com) (corp.formula1.com)