Formula One’s Las Vegas Grand Prix to return in 2026

The Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix will return in 2026 for the fourth edition of the highly touted race.

Next year’s Las Vegas Grand Prix is scheduled for Nov. 19 to 21, F1 announced late Monday with the full 24-race 2026 schedule. The slate will include the additions of automobile brands Audi, Cadillac and Ford, and the debut of the Spanish Grand Prix from Sept. 11 to 13.

“It promises to be an unforgettable season, where once again we will come together at 24 amazing global venues to watch the best drivers in the world push themselves to the limit and produce incredible wheel to wheel racing for our millions of fans watching around the globe,” Stefano Domenicali, president and CEO of Formula One, said in a statement.

The race will be the fourth one on the 3.8-mile circuit, run mainly on public roads including stretches of Las Vegas Boulevard, Koval Lane and Harmon and Sands avenues.

The first race took place in 2023 after F1 entered into a three-year agreement with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

With that agreement expiring after this year’s Las Vegas Grand Prix, scheduled for Nov. 20 to 22, the two sides have been working on an extension. Initially aimed at being longer than the initial three-year term, plans have changed to inking a new two-year agreement, according to Steve Hill, LVCVA president and CEO.

“Then we’ll take another look at it in a couple of years,” Hill said.

With F1 and local leaders learning as they went over the past two years, which will lead to a smoother third race this year, Hill said they want the event to continue to mature to ensure race weekend gets smoother each year.

“Trying to anticipate what the race is going to look like in year seven or year eight for example, I think we felt like that that could potentially be unfair for one side or another,” Hill said. “At this point I think that we’ll do a two-year extension and continue that conversation over those couple of years.”

Hill anticipates the two-year extension will be brought to the LVCVA Board of Directors for a vote in August or September, extending the race through 2026 and 2027.

“Obviously we expect this to be a permanent race,” Hill noted.

One thing that will not change as part of the race’s maturation is the week that it will occur, as it will continue to be held on the weekend before Thanksgiving, which is annually one of the slowest weeks for tourism in Las Vegas, Hill said.

It should come as no surprise that the race is expected to return in 2026. F1’s parent company, Liberty Media, has invested heavily in its Las Vegas operations. Liberty Media spend $500 million on acquiring 39 acres and constructing the three-story pit building and surrounding Grand Prix Plaza before the 2023 inaugural race.

F1 began using Grand Prix Plaza this year during nonrace weekends, offering F1-themed attractions, a flagship retail store and food and beverage offerings. The space will be open to the public through September, when it will be closed to prepare for the 2025 race. Plans call for the space to reopen to visitors in January.

The 2024 event drew an announced three-day crowd of 306,000, according to race officials The 175,000 unique visitors the race drew to Las Vegas led to a $934 million estimated economic impact, according to financial consulting firm Applied Analysis.

Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X.