"It's almost like a declaration of war": Conor Daly slams F1 for 'arrogant' 2026 scheduling of Canadian GP vs Indy 500

IndyCar driver Conor Daly has called out F1 for 'disrespecting' IndyCar by scheduling the 2026 Canadian GP against the 110th running of the Indy 500. Both events will take place on May 24, with the Montreal F1 race starting at 2 pm, roughly past the halfway point of the Indy 500.

Racing fans vented their displeasure with F1 on social media, accusing them of spoiling the greatest day of racing of the year. Historically, the Memorial Day weekend had three of the world's biggest races - F1's Monaco GP, followed by IndyCar's Indy 500, and NASCAR's Coca-Cola 600. None of the three clashed with the others.

However, with F1 swapping out the Monaco GP, the Indy 500 will directly clash with the Canadian GP. Conor Daly couldn't understand why F1 would make such a decision. Though he admitted that he 'respected' the F1 world and continues to have many friends there, the Juncos Hollinger Racing driver heavily criticized the scheduling.

"This is the most arrogant of a shot you can take at just motorsport, in general, and motorsport fans... This is such a disrespectful move to those that just enjoy motorsport. Like why would you do that?" Daly said on his podcast, named Speed Street.

The IndyCar veteran went as far as to call F1's move an act of war against IndyCar, adding:

"This is a direct shot at us. It's almost like a declaration of war. Like this is crazy. I love going to the Canadian GP, think it's a great event, and I used to go all the time. I raced Formula Ford and 1600 at the Canadian GP when I was 15. I thought it was awesome. But it's just not necessary. When you talk about they're doing it for sustainability or whatever, it's not. It's literally to just try to flex."

Conor Daly isn't the first IndyCar driver to voice his opinion on this matter. Team Penske's Scott McLaughlin was similarly blunt, criticizing F1 for 'single-handedly ruining Motorsport Xmas'.

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Conor Daly calls out F1 for 'disrespectfully' scheduling a race during the same weekend as Le Mans in 2026

2025 Le Mans 24 Hours - Previews - Source: Getty

Conor Daly also highlighted how F1 has scheduled a race in 2026 on the same weekend as the world's biggest endurance race, the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Spanish GP in Barcelona is scheduled from June 12 to 14, which will most probably clash with Le Mans, which has yet to confirm its 2026 date.

This year, it is the Canadian GP that will clash with the premier World Endurance Championship race on June 15. Daly addressed this topic with the same sentiment he had for the Canada-Indy 500 clash, saying:

"I like F1, but I don't like the attitude that it seems there is right now that is completely disrespecting anything else. There can be other motorsports that exist, right? Even Le Mans. They have a race scheduled the same weekend as Le Mans, too. That's a shame. Le Mans is also a very large event."

While Conor Daly accepted that even IndyCar has a race scheduled this year during the Le Mans weekend, he couldn't comprehend F1's decisions. On the Indy 500 front, the Juncos Hollinger Racing driver affirmed that IndyCar will "dominate" F1's Canadian GP in 2026.