Scheduling: The 2015 Japanese Grand Prix

From Singapore, the ten teams and twenty drivers head to Suzuka as the F1 paddock wonders whether Mercedes lack of pace from Singapore is a one off, or a new trend. Due to the events that occurred last year, the Japanese Grand Prix start time was moved forward one hour, with the race now starting at 14:00 local time, eight hours ahead of the UK, meaning the race begins at 06:00 UK time.

There is a bit of unusual scheduling from the BBC this year, who are covering the weekend live. The race show on BBC One is a mammoth four hours long, which I believe is the longest that they have ever billed it as. As a result of the extended BBC One show, there is no formal F1 Forum. I believe it is only the second time since Formula 1 returned to the BBC that a post-race forum has not happened after a live race (the first being Canada 2011 due to the red flag period). In a way you could say it is disappointing, but I imagine the last hour to 45 minutes on BBC One will be like a forum, without it being called a forum. Edit – Suzi Perry on Twitter calls it a Forum.

Saying the above, early indications are that the race weekend could be affected by a Tropical Storm similar to 2014. Obviously if the schedule changes, I will update this piece and/or republish this post elsewhere. The return of the Formula 1 fly-away races means that we get Formula 1 and MotoGP on the same day, and without a clash. It looks like BT’s coverage may be studio based again due to the majority of their team working on the Rugby World Cup – it certainly is that way for MotoGP’s fly-away rounds, but I’m unclear as to whether that applies for Aragon as well.

BBC F1
BBC TV – Sessions
25/09 – 01:55 to 03:35 – Practice 1 (BBC Two)
25/09 – 05:55 to 07:45 – Practice 2 (BBC Two)
26/09 – 03:55 to 05:05 – Practice 3 (BBC Two)
26/09 – 06:00 to 08:30 – Qualifying (BBC One)
26/09 – 13:00 to 14:30 – Qualifying Replay (BBC One)
27/09 – 05:00 to 09:00 – Race (BBC One)
=> 05:00 – Race
=> 08:00 – Forum
27/09 – 13:15 to 15:15 – Race Replay (BBC One)

BBC Radio – Sessions
25/09 – 01:55 to 03:35 – Practice 1 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
25/09 – 05:55 to 07:35 – Practice 2 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
26/09 – 03:55 to 05:05 – Practice 3 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
26/09 – 06:55 to 08:05 – Qualifying (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
27/09 – 05:30 to 08:00 – Race (BBC Radio 5 Live)

Supplementary Programming
25/09 – 18:45 to 19:00 – Inside F1 (BBC News Channel)
26/09 – 08:30 to 09:30 – F1 Rewind: Rivalries (BBC Two)
26/09 – 19:45 to 20:00 – Inside F1 (BBC News Channel)

Sky Sports F1
Sessions
25/09 – 01:45 to 03:50 – Practice 1
25/09 – 05:45 to 08:00 – Practice 2
25/09 – 03:45 to 05:15 – Practice 3
26/09 – 06:00 to 08:45 – Qualifying (also Sky Sports 1)
27/09 – 04:30 to 09:15 – Race (also Sky Sports 1)
=> 04:30 – Track Parade
=> 05:00 – Pit Lane Live
=> 05:30 – Race
=> 08:30 – Paddock Live

Supplementary Programming
24/09 – 07:00 to 07:30 – Driver Press Conference
24/09 – 20:45 to 21:00 – Paddock Uncut: Japan
25/09 – 08:00 to 08:45 – Team Press Conference
25/09 – 10:00 to 11:00 – The F1 Show
30/09 – 20:30 to 21:00 – Midweek Report

British Touring Car Championship – Silverstone (ITV4)
27/09 – 10:00 to 18:30 – Races

MotoGP – Aragon (BT Sport 2)
25/09 – 08:00 to 15:00
=> 08:00 – Practice 1
=> 10:45 – Reaction and Build-Up
=> 12:00 – Practice 2
26/09 – 08:00 to 15:15
=> 08:00 – Practice 3
=> 11:00 – Qualifying
27/09 – 07:30 to 09:15 – Warm Up
27/09 – 09:30 to 15:00
=> 09:30 – Races
=> 14:00 – Chequered Flag

MotoGP – Aragon (ITV4)
28/09 – 20:00 to 21:00 – Highlights

If anything changes, I will update the schedule above.

Update on September 22nd – I’ve received confirmation that there is no F1 Forum on the Red Button across the weekend, so I have updated the description and schedule to reflect that.