Marcus Ericsson condemns F1 'unnecessarily' pitting 2026 Canadian GP against the Indy 500
Andretti Global star Marcus Ericsson arrived at the World Wide Technology Raceway for the upcoming IndyCar race and appeared in front of the media for the post-practice interviews. The Swedish driver was questioned about F1’s decision to pit the Canadian GP against the Indy 500, and the 34-year-old condemned the decision.
F1 released the calendar for the 2026 season in the second week of June. Some crucial changes were made to the calendar, one of which included moving the Canadian GP up by one race weekend and swapping Monaco with it. As a result of this decision, the Canadian GP will take place at the same time as the Indy 500.
The Indy 500, the Coca Cola 600, and the Monaco GP infamously took place on the same day, i.e. the Memorial Day. However, in a bid to reduce the CO2 emissions from the freight transfer to the tracks, F1 has put the Canadian GP right after the Miami GP race weekend for the 2026 season, and bunched up the European races together.
F1 received a lot of backlash from the motorsport enthusiasts around the globe for pitting the Canadian GP against the Indy 500. Given that both events take place in the same time zone, the two races will clash for the viewers. On the other hand, the enthusiasts will have to choose between attending either of the two races.
Marcus Ericsson was questioned by Frontstretch about the clash at the WWTR. The reporter asked whether Ericsson had any message for the fans deciding between the two events.
“That’s an easy one. It's the Indy 500, it's unique. The 500 is the best race in the world. I love the Canadian GP as well, I think it's really fun, but there is no comparison between the two,” said Marcus Ericsson.
“Personally, I'm just a little bit sad to see it because I love F1 as well, I love watching F1 and putting us up against each other, I don't think it's necessary really. So, hopefully it's a one time thing and they will reconsider because it's better when they don't conflict with each other,” added Ericsson.
Marcus Ericsson is a former F1 driver who raced for Caterham and Sauber before making his move to the IndyCar series.
Marcus Ericsson on how making the World Wide Technology Raceway event a night race will affect the setup
The Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at the World Wide Technology Raceway was supposed to be a day race when the 2025 calendar was introduced. However, a few races into the season, FOX and IndyCar announced that they will be changing the timings of a few races, which included the Bommarito Automotive Group 500.
The race will now take place at night and Marcus Ericsson was questioned about how it will affect the preparation and car setup for the weekend. He said:
“A little bit with the car setup. You need to, you know, tune a little bit more to have an evening race with a cooler track temperature mainly because the sun is not going to be out and heat the track up. So more fine tuning than anything. It's not going to change like a dramatic thing.”
The Bommarito Automotive Group 500 will take place on Sunday, June 15, at the 1.25-mile WWTR circuit.