How many Formula One races are in a season? The 2026 count
F1's revised 2026 calendar lists 23 Grands Prix and six Sprints. Learn why race weekends, Sprint races and the original 24-round schedule differ.
Formula 1’s revised 2026 calendar lists 23 Grands Prix, as of 14 October 2026. That is 23 championship race weekends, not counting Sprints as extra rounds. The season runs from Australia in March to the scheduled Abu Dhabi finale in December, according to the current official F1 calendar.
There is no fixed race count for every year. Both 2024 and 2025 had 24 Grands Prix, and 2026 was originally announced as another 24-round season. Calendar changes explain the difference.
The 2026 count: Grands Prix versus Sprints
F1’s 2026 Sprint calendar lists six Sprint weekends: China, Miami, Canada, Great Britain, the Netherlands and Singapore. Each includes a Sprint and a Grand Prix.
| What you are counting | Revised 2026 calendar total |
|---|---|
| Grands Prix / championship rounds | 23 |
| Race weekends | 23 |
| Additional Sprint races | 6 |
| Grands Prix plus Sprints | 29 |
So 23 answers the usual question about the number of F1 rounds. 29 answers the broader question about how many races the full-season calendar contains when the six Sprints are included. It does not mean there are 29 separate weekends.
Practice, qualifying and pre-season testing are not additional races. On a 2026 Sprint weekend, Sprint Qualifying takes place on Friday; the Sprint and Grand Prix qualifying follow on Saturday, with the Grand Prix on Sunday.
Why some sources say 24—or 22
The original 2026 calendar announcement listed 24 Grands Prix, including Bahrain and Saudi Arabia in April.
F1 subsequently confirmed that neither April event would take place, with no substitutions that month. Removing those two dates left 22 rounds.
Bahrain was later restored as the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, held at Sepang on 2–4 October. The relocation announcement preserved one round. The current calendar records that event as Round 16 and lists the Abu Dhabi finale as Round 23.
The sequence is therefore 24 originally scheduled → 22 after the April removals → 23 with Bahrain held in Malaysia.
Is 24 the maximum?
Under the 2026 FIA regulations, Article A2.1.2, the championship may contain a maximum of 24 competitions and a minimum of eight. That is a permitted range, not a requirement to hold 24 every year. Sprints take place within those competitions rather than adding championship rounds. See the FIA’s general regulatory provisions.
A Sprint is a separate, shorter contest. For the distance and time-limit rules, see how long a Formula 1 race is.