"Canadian GP against Indy 500 is plain stupid": Racing fans react as F1 makes absurd 2026 calendar decision

Racing fans have unleashed fury on F1 after the series announced its 2026 calendar late Monday night, pitting the Canadian GP against the Indy 500. While vintage race locations like Imola made way for the Madrid GP, it was the scheduling of the Canadian GP that sparked controversy on social media.

F1 scheduled the race in Montreal for the weekend of May 22 to 24, going head-on with the 110th running of the Indy 500. For decades, F1 had the Monaco GP on the same day as IndyCar's biggest race of the year. However, the two crown jewel events took place in different time zones and never clashed.

However, that won't be the case with the Canadian GP. The race will start at 2 pm ET, overlapping with the second half of the Indy 500, which begins at 12:45 pm ET. F1's move was motivated by its efforts towards sustainability, with the Montreal weekend scheduled immediately after the Miami GP.

This would help the series avoid the ordeal of going cross-continent from Miami to Monaco and back to North America for the Canadian GP. However, the race going directly against the Greatest Spectacle of Racing irked fans. One user on X expressed their disappointment with F1's decision, writing:

"Canadian GP against Indy 500 is plain stupid."

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Canadian GP against the Indy 500 is plain stupid

Many others had the same concern and voiced their frustration on the social media platform. Here are some of those reactions:

"Dear #F1, directly clashing the Indy 500 with the Canadian GP is frankly a colossally stupid decision. I'll be watching the 500 because you're idiots," wrote one fan.

"Formula 1 will get a huge penalty in terms of American ratings on May 24th. Hopefully they’ll learn from their mistake. They had the chance to put Miami and Canada back to back and leave 2 free weeks of Indy 500, even giving the chance to a brave F1 driver to attempt it, but #nah," wrote another.

A few fans also highlighted how F1's potential attempt to crush IndyCar, which is America's top open-wheel racing category and on the rise, will only harm their growth.

"Terrible, ruins the greatest day in racing. And it hurts both in the short term, I guess f1 is trying to finish off INDYCAR, but that’s been tried before with the US 500 and that didn’t work," one fan shared.

"Why does the FIA persist on jamming F1 on the same dates with other series? Like why dod they have F1 and LeMans on the same weekend... It makes no sense," another user added.

"Fantastic, Penske vs FIA," wrote another fed-up fan.

Penske Entertainment, the corporation founded by Roger Penske, owns IndyCar. Having brought FOX on board as its official broadcasting partner in 2025, the series has witnessed considerable gains in audience size.

FOX steers the 2025 Indy 500 to shatter decades-old viewership record

Alex Palou celebrates after winning the 109th Running of the Indianapolis 500 - Source: Getty

The 109th running of the Indy 500 on May 25 witnessed history on more than one front. The 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway was sold out for the first time since the 100th running in 2016, with over 350,000 fans in attendance.

Reigning IndyCar champion Alex Palou, who had four out of five races this season before the big race, extended his magical streak. The Chip Ganassi Racing driver won the Indy 500 for the first time, recording his breakthrough win on an oval.

The race had multiple layers of chaos, with 483 passes total and 394 of those for position. F1 usually has that many overtakes in one entire season.

A couple of days after the race, FOX announced the viewership numbers, with the race being watched by 7.05 million viewers on average and peaking at 8.4 million. It became the most-watched Indy 500 since 2008.