The ONCE JournalFormula 1 · The season

After dark: the races that end the year.

Three of the season's last weekends are raced under lights. How each one keeps its own hours.

The ONCE desk2 min read

Formula 1 cars racing at night under banks of floodlights on the Las Vegas street circuit.

The season ends in the dark. Of its final weekends, three are run under lights: Las Vegas on a Saturday night, Lusail under floodlights, and Abu Dhabi from daylight into night. Each one keeps its own hours, and the best weekend is planned around them.

Las Vegas: Saturday night, on the Strip

The Las Vegas Grand Prix runs from 19 to 21 November 2026, down the Strip, past the Bellagio, the Venetian and Caesars Palace. The chequered flag falls on Saturday night. Few weekends in sport are built so completely around the hours after dark: sleep late, dine late, and keep Sunday for the pool.

The Las Vegas Strip at night, its hotels and casino signs lit up above the traffic.
The Strip becomes the circuit.

Lusail: floodlights and a long straight

The Qatar Grand Prix follows from 27 to 29 November. Lusail races at night under floodlights, through 16 flowing corners and onto a straight a kilometre long. Doha's skyline sits a short drive away, ready for the evenings either side of the race.

  • 16Corners at Lusail
  • 1 kmMain straight
  • SaturdayNight race in Las Vegas

Abu Dhabi: the finale, from day into night

The season ends at Yas Marina from 4 to 6 December. The race starts in daylight and finishes under lights. Superyachts line the marina, the W Hotel spans the track, and the after-race concerts carry the weekend late into the night.

The race starts in daylight and finishes under lights.

The Yas Marina Circuit at sunset, the grandstands and the lit canopy of the hotel above the track.
Yas Marina, as the light goes.

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