Sport· Season finale
When Is Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2026 Date?Match date
Scroll to release dateWhen is the 2026 F1 season finale? The Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina is Sunday, December 6, 2026 — Round 24 of 24.
Current target date: Sunday, December 6, 2026 (Season finale). We update this page when Formula 1 publishes schedule changes.
Abu Dhabi GP 2026: race Sun Dec 6, Yas Marina; weekend Dec 4–6. Round 24/24 season finale under the lights. ≠ Qatar / Las Vegas earlier rounds.
Season finale
Sunday, December 6, 2026
December 6, 2026 — Yas Marina closes the F1 year under the lights
The Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix ends the 2026 season on Sunday, December 6 at Yas Marina Circuit. Practice and qualifying fill December 4–5; Sunday is the championship’s Round 24 — last points, last fireworks, last chance to settle unfinished title math.
Track Dec 6 for the race. Qatar’s late-November round and Las Vegas in mid-November are earlier calendar stops — not this finale Sunday.
Confirmed: Sun Dec 6 Yas Marina / R24 finale — not Vegas week, not Qatar, not a cancelled closer
Confirmed: December 6, 2026 race; Yas Marina; Abu Dhabi GP as 2026 season finale; weekend December 4–6. Not confirmed as swapped with another finale venue, as a daytime-only heat race, or as bundled into the Qatar weekend. Fake “moved to Jeddah season end” stubs invent a corridor.
From blank Yas Island to the championship’s December ritual
- 2006–2009 — Yas Island developed; Yas Marina built; first F1 GP in 2009 as season finale.
- 2010 onward — multiple title deciders under the marina lights.
- 2021 — layout update (incl. Turn 9 banking) shortens the lap to ~5.28 km.
- 2026 calendar — Round 24; race Sunday, December 6 after Vegas and Qatar.
- Post-race — winter break begins; 2027 pre-season is a different countdown.
Circuit numbers that keep this off generic “desert night race” filler
- Race Sunday: December 6, 2026.
- Weekend: December 4–6 (FP1/FP2 Friday; FP3/Quali Saturday).
- Role: Round 24 of 24 — 2026 championship finale.
- Track: Yas Marina — ~5.281 km, 58 laps, first GP 2009.
- Billing: Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Abu Dhabi is Round 24 of 24 in 2026 — the calendar’s longest modern season still ends where F1 has finished most years since 2009
A 24-race championship stretches drivers from March to December, but the full stop remains Yas Marina on December 6. That continuity matters: title fights, constructor scraps, and farewell drives still point at the same floodlit island that debuted as the 2009 finale — not at whichever flashy street race sat two weeks earlier.
Honest pages countdown to Sunday Dec 6, keep Qatar and Las Vegas on their own weekends, and refuse to sell a daytime-only desert stub as Abu Dhabi’s product.
Frequently asked questions
Quick answers about this release date.
1When is the 2026 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix?
Race day is Sunday, December 6, 2026 at Yas Marina Circuit on Yas Island. The Formula 1 weekend runs Friday–Sunday, December 4–6, as the Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix — the season finale.
2Is this the last race of the 2026 championship?
Yes. On the published 2026 calendar Abu Dhabi is Round 24 of 24 — the traditional lights-and-fireworks closer after the late-season swing that includes Las Vegas and Qatar in the weeks before.
3What time does the race start?
Session boards publish local UAE times closer to the event; Abu Dhabi’s modern identity is a late-afternoon / twilight start under the Yas Marina lights, not a noon desert sprint. Convert from the official F1 timetable (GST, UTC+4) when the detailed PDF drops.
4How long has F1 finished the year here?
Yas Marina joined the championship in 2009 as that season’s finale and has kept the end-of-year role for most seasons since. The lap is about 5.281 km over 58 race laps (~306 km) after the 2021 layout tweak.
Explore more hubs
Jump into another category — anime, games, movies, sport, and events calendars.