Las Vegas Grand Prix

The 2026 Las Vegas Grand Prix on the Las Vegas Strip Circuit starts at 23:00 PST (UTC-8) on Saturday 22 November. The 6.201 km circuit runs 50 laps for a race distance of 310.05 km, with the finish line crossing into Sunday morning local time.

This is not a sprint weekend. Practice, qualifying, and the race run across the standard three-day format.

The Las Vegas Strip Circuit sends cars past the Bellagio fountains, down the Las Vegas Strip, and through the neon canyon of the world's most famous entertainment district. The circuit is a high-speed affair with three long straights connected by tight, low-grip corners. Night-time temperatures in November drop well below 15 degrees Celsius in the Nevada desert, creating tire warm-up challenges that caught teams off guard when the race debuted.

Las Vegas hosted its first modern F1 race in 2023, with Max Verstappen winning after a penalty-filled weekend of manhole cover incidents and cold-weather complications. Charles Leclerc took a dramatic pole position. In 2024, George Russell won for Mercedes, with the race producing genuine entertainment that silenced early critics of the event. The venue has quickly found its feet as F1's Saturday night spectacle, with F1 cars at full speed past casino hotels at midnight creating a visual unlike anything else on the calendar.

The late-night start in Pacific Time means this race is well-timed for much of the world outside the Americas. European fans get a Sunday morning race at 07:00 GMT and 08:00 CET. Australian and Asian viewers catch it on Sunday afternoon at 18:00 AEDT, 15:00 JST, and 15:00 CST. East Coast fans face the most awkward timing at 02:00 Eastern on Sunday, while West Coast fans watch at 23:00 Pacific. Check United States time for the exact start in your location.

The 2026 regulations add another layer. The active aero systems will be working hard on those long straights, and the new power units will be pushed in the cold, thin desert air. Las Vegas sits at 620 meters elevation, not extreme, but noticeable. With three races remaining after this one and championship positions being decided, Las Vegas under the lights, with everything on the line, is exactly the kind of theatre F1 was built for.