The 2026 Las Vegas Grand Prix on the Las Vegas Strip Circuit starts at 23:00 PST (UTC-8) on Saturday 22 November, which is 02:00 Eastern on Sunday, 08:00 CET on Sunday, 16:00 AEST on Sunday, and 07:00 GMT on Sunday.
This is Formula 1’s Saturday night spectacle. The cars race past the Bellagio fountains, down the Las Vegas Strip, and through the neon canyon of the world’s most famous entertainment district. Whatever your feelings about the commercialization of the sport, there is no denying that F1 cars at full speed past the casino hotels at midnight is a visual unlike anything else on the calendar.
The late-night start in Pacific Time means this race is actually well-timed for much of the world. European fans get a Sunday morning race at 08:00 CET, a comfortable slot. Australian and Asian viewers catch it on Sunday afternoon or evening. It is North American fans on the East Coast who face the most awkward timing, with a 02:00 Sunday start requiring genuine commitment.
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. Getting the tires into their operating window on cold asphalt under floodlights is a genuine engineering puzzle.
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.
Three races remain after this one. Championship positions are being decided. Las Vegas under the lights, with everything on the line, is exactly the kind of theatre F1 was built for.