The 2026 Formula 1 calendar has been published, confirming what was largely already known: there will not be a South African Grand Prix next year.
A major change to next year’s calendar is the exclusion of the iconic Imola track in Italy, which has been replaced by a Grand Prix in Madrid.
The new Madrid race will be one of two to take place in Spain in 2026, with Barcelona hosting its usual Spanish Grand Prix earlier in the year.
Another item of interest from the new calendar is the reordering of several races – including the return of the Australian Grand Prix as the opening race of the year.
The reordering is seemingly focused on grouping Grand Prix races geographically.
For example: all European races are grouped together in an uninterrupted period spanning 5 June to 13 September.
Asian and North American races are also grouped together throughout the year.
The full calendar can be viewed below.
Save the date 🔒
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 10, 2025
Presenting the 2026 Calendar 🗓️
24 races across the world to crown our champion 🏆#F1 #Formula1 pic.twitter.com/4xe7e8MPM6
South Africa misses out
Realistically, a 2026 South African Grand Prix was never going to happen, as the government has previous indicated that it plans to facilitate the bid for a first modern South African Grand Prix in 2027 instead.
The Department of Sports, Arts and Culture previously confirmed that it had received three bids from parties that wanted to host the local Grand Prix. Two of these bidders are all but confirmed.
Johannesburg’s Kyalami track has hosted the South African Grand Prix in the past – from 1967 to 1985, and again in both 1992 and 1993.
Kyalami has indicated its interest in hosting the South African Grand Prix should it come to fruition.
Another option that is known is a Grand Prix in the Western Cape, as McKenzie has previously noted that a new F1-grade race track was being built in the province.
However, the City of Cape Town has said that while it would love to host a Grand Prix, it could only commit R10 million of the R900 million that would be required to run the event.
The rest of the funding would need to come from other sources.
“The numbers spoken about when you discuss Formula 1 are eye wateringly huge so we’ve made it very clear that it has to be largely self-funded and that our support is capped,” said City of Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis.
While it is likely that two of the three bids were by the above suiters from Kyalami and the Western Cape, the third bidder is unknown at this time.
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