F1 fans can watch the 2026 season LIVE at the cinema

Lewis Hamilton drives his car at the Sakhir race track in pre-season testing — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 Off the Track

F1 fans can watch the 2026 season LIVE at the cinema

F1 fans can watch the season at the cinema

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Tuesday 24 February 2026 10:55 Updated: 12:02

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F1 fans are set to be able to have the experience of the F1 movie, but with real life races in 2026.

The F1 movie released last year was commended for its camera shots and realistic imitation of F1 racing, even being nominated for four Oscars for best picture, best sound, best visual effects and the film editing category.

The thrill of seeing cars going up against one another in a cinema environment was not lost on fans, even if the actual storyline of the film received mixed reviews.

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Now, following on from the success of bringing F1 to the big screen, IMAX have opted to show five races of the 2026 F1 season live from cinemas across the US, with F1 fans in the US able to sit back and enjoy the immersive experience with popcorn in hand.

The Miami, Monaco, British, Italian and US Grands Prix will all be shown by the big screen provider across select cinemas - although curiously, the Las Vegas GP misses out on that schedule.

At least 50 IMAX locations across the US will show the full races after a partnership was announced with AppleTV.

Jonathan Fischer, chief content officer at IMAX, said in a statement about the new partnership: "Apple TV and Joe Kosinski’s brilliant F1: The Movie proved beyond a doubt that the speed, precision, and artistry of Formula 1 translate beautifully to the IMAX experience, and we are very excited to further our collaboration with Apple and offer fans more of what resonated so deeply with that film by presenting live F1 races to them in IMAX."

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When does the 2026 F1 season start?

All 11 teams will be back in action when the 2026 season starts in Melbourne for the Australian Grand Prix. The first race of the year takes place on March 8 at 3pm local time (AEDT), 4am GMT, and 11pm ET.

What follows is 23 more race weekends across nine months, in what is set to be the joint-longest season in F1 history.

The first of Imax's showings will be on May 3 with the Miami GP, before the Monaco GP the following month on June 7.

Sunday July 5 is the date of the British GP at Silverstone, before the Italian GP rounds off the summer on September 6. Imax's offering of the 2026 season finishes on Sunday October 25 with the United States GP at the Circuit of the Americas.

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