F1 2026 Canadian Grand Prix weather forecast - latest from Montreal

Lewis Hamilton, Montreal, 2024, Social — Photo: © IMAGO

Canadian Grand Prix

F1 2026 Canadian Grand Prix weather forecast - latest from Montreal

The Canadian GP is a sprint race weekend

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Thursday 21 May 2026 13:57

All eyes are on the skies this weekend as F1 returns for the Canadian Grand Prix - and the weather looks set to play a huge role looking at the current forecast.

The Canadian GP has been pushed forward compared to its usual June slot on the calendar, for sustainability and logistics reasons, as well as to avoid the usual clash between the Monaco Grand Prix and the Indy500, two legs of motorsport's historic triple crown.

Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve plays host to round five of the 2026 season, and fans will be hoping for a similar level of drama to what we saw in 2025's event.

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Title challengers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris came together, hampering Norris' title hopes against his team-mate.

This year, Mercedes' drivers George Russell and Kimi Antonelli are the ones fighting for the title, with 19-year-old Antonelli leading by 20 points in the standings after three consecutive grand prix wins.

But Russell claimed victory in Canada last year and will be looking to do so again to put pressure on the Italian teenager.

As always, the weather forecast could be crucial, particularly with Canada being a sprint weekend, so here is your forecast for the three days.

F1 Canadian Grand Prix weather forecast

Friday, May 22: FP1 & sprint qualifying

The one and only practice session of the weekend takes place on Friday at 12:30pm local time (EST), with teams looking to refine their setups ahead of sprint qualifying.

Fortunately given the limited practice time on offer, Friday early afternoon is set to see dry conditions, with sunny spells gracing the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

Temperatures will be sat at 17 degrees Celsius, while there will be wind speeds of around 6mph.

The first competitive session of the weekend then gets underway later on Friday, with sprint qualifying on at 4:30pm local time.

There will be more cloud cover at the track by this time on Friday, and temperatures will have risen to 19 degrees Celsius. The enhanced cloud cover also means humidity will rise to around 49 per cent, but the chance of rain remains below five per cent.

Saturday, May 23: Sprint race & qualifying

The first of two F1 races this weekend takes place on Saturday, with a lights out time 12pm local time (EST).

Glorious conditions will be present at the track throughout Saturday, with 18 degrees Celsius forecast for the sprint race, but under the beaming sun there is a zero per cent chance of rain.

That remains the same for main race qualifying, on at 4pm, when temperatures will have climbed to a shade above 20 degrees Celsius.

Wind speeds remain low and are therefore unlikely to affect the drivers, but the humidity will be higher than on Friday, reaching 59 per cent during the hottest parts of the day.

Sunday, May 24: Race day

Amid the extended sprint weekend schedule, the main event is still the grand prix, with lights out on Sunday for the Canadian Grand Prix taking place at 4pm local time (EST).

Sunday will be a much cloudier day on the whole, but the temperatures will hold quite well, still up at 19 degrees Celsius.

But with the cloud around, Sunday sees a bigger chance of rain compared to the previous two days, and by race time, there is a 10 per cent chance of precipitation.

If rain does hit, it is likely to be light and not like the thundery showers that were forecast for Miami last time out, but it could still be enough for drivers and teams to be scrambling around for some intermediate tyres.

Wind speeds will also be higher on Sunday, at around 12mph with a maximum gust of 25mph. This may cause a few issues heading into braking zones for the drivers.

Check back to this page throughout the weekend for updates.

F1 Canadian Grand Prix