After the Summer break, Formula 1 heads to Spa for the Belgian Grand Prix! With nine races remaining until the season finale in Abu Dhabi on December 1st, can anyone stop Lewis Hamilton from winning his sixth Drivers’ Championship?
All nine races air exclusively live on Sky Sports. Sky will be thin on the ground in Belgium, with both Anthony Davidson and Paul di Resta at Silverstone for the start of the 2019-20 World Endurance Championship season (airing live on BT Sport/ESPN). Ted Kravitz is also absent, returning to the team in Monza next time out.
Meanwhile on the Channel 4 front, Mark Webber joins Steve Jones and David Coulthard in the paddock for their highlights offering. Slightly unusual is the fact that Channel 4’s qualifying highlights air at 18:00 instead of 18:30, but this is still three hours after qualifying ends, so still within their contractual obligations.
Channel 4 F1
31/08 – 18:00 to 19:30 – Qualifying Highlights
01/09 – 19:00 to 21:00 – Race Highlights
Sky Sports F1 Sessions
30/08 – 09:45 to 11:55 – Practice 1
30/08 – 13:45 to 15:50 – Practice 2
31/08 – 10:45 to 12:30
=> 10:45 – Practice 3
=> 12:10 – Paddock Walkabout
31/08 – 13:00 to 15:35 – Qualifying
=> 13:00 – Pre-Show
=> 13:55 – Qualifying (also Sky Sports Main Event from 14:15)
01/09 – 12:30 to 17:00 – Race
=> 12:30 – Pit Lane Live
=> 13:30 – On the Grid
=> 14:05 – Race
=> 16:00 – Paddock Live
Supplementary Programming
29/08 – 14:00 to 14:30 – Drivers’ Press Conference
29/08 – 17:00 to 17:30 – Welcome to the Weekend
30/08 – 16:30 to 17:00 – The Story so Far
31/08 – 16:45 to 17:15 – The F1 Show
04/09 – 20:00 to 20:30 – F1 Midweek Debrief
BBC Radio F1 All sessions are available live on BBC’s F1 website
30/08 – 09:55 to 11:35 – Practice 1 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
30/08 – 13:55 to 15:35 – Practice 2 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
31/08 – 10:55 to 12:05 – Practice 3 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
31/08 – 13:55 to 15:05 – Qualifying (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
01/09 – 14:00 to 16:00 – Race (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
European Le Mans Series – Silverstone (BT Sport Extra 4) Also airs live on YouTube
31/08 – 14:00 to 19:15 – Race
Formula Two – Belgium (Sky Sports F1)
30/08 – 11:55 to 12:45 – Practice
30/08 – 15:50 to 16:30 – Qualifying
31/08 – 15:35 to 16:45 – Race 1 01/09 – 10:05 to 11:05 – Race 2
Formula Three – Belgium (Sky Sports F1)
30/08 – 17:00 to 17:35 – Qualifying Tape-Delay
31/08 – 09:30 to 10:20 – Race 1
01/09 – 08:40 to 09:30 10:05 to 11:05 – Race 2
IndyCar Series – Portland (Sky Sports F1)
31/08 – 23:00 to 00:30 – Qualifying (also Sky Sports Main Event)
01/09 – 20:00 to 23:00 – Race
Speedway Grand Prix – Germany (BT Sport 3)
31/08 – 17:45 to 21:15 – Races
World Endurance Championship – 4 Hours of Silverstone (BT Sport/ESPN)
01/09 – 12:00 to 16:00 – Race
As always, the schedule will be updated if plans change.
Update on September 1st at 09:05 – Due to the death of Anthoine Hubert during yesterday’s Formula Two race, the second Formula Two race of the weekend has been cancelled. The second Formula Three race moves into the slot occupied by Formula Two.
Lee McKenzie is a name familiar to many readers of Motorsport Broadcasting, having covered motor sport for many years, as well as other forms of sport.
I sat down with her a couple of weeks ago at the W Series season finale in Brands Hatch, as we discussed a range of topics, from her upbringing and interview style, to giving advice to budding journalists coming through the ranks.
You’ve been around motor racing a lot since you were younger, through your Dad [Bob].
I was going to Formula 1 races when I was ten years old, I’ve known Bernie since I was a small child. My Dad was at Senna’s funeral, and wrote books on both Damon and Nigel. I’ve been surrounded by all this, in different sports, not just motor sport, all my life.
I started out as a rugby journalist and I started in equestrian, my two real passions. People just associate motor racing with me because that’s what they’ve been watching. I love doing the Paralympics, Para sport, Wimbledon, all that kind of thing. I’ve not done a full F1 season since 2012, it’s never been my only job, it’s never been my first job!
You go to other sports, and you think “actually F1 does this really well,” and then you go to other sports and meet other athletes, and think “yeah, we could learn from that.” There’s always a roundness to doing many other things, because it makes you more complete as a person.
I have been fortunate to have had that upbringing, but I wouldn’t have had a job had I not been good. I know that may sound arrogant, but if I was just somebody’s daughter, I wouldn’t have had a long career.
This year you have been presenting the new W Series. Has it been a different style of presenting for you, or do you tackle all sports similarly?
It doesn’t matter what sport I present; I present them all in a similar way. It takes an awful lot of prep, it’s not just the bit you see on camera. But I’ve thought the quality of racing has been fantastic.
It’s hard selling any television programme when the sport doesn’t do it justice, so the fact that the racing has been of such a high quality is great. It’s an easy sell from that point of view.
A lot of what you’re doing is reacting to the sport that’s been. Prepping for an Olympics or a Commonwealth Games is much, much harder. There are so many countries, sports, people. Here, I only need to know about 18 to 20 people, a few of whom I knew anyway.
We do a lot of filming in advance, so not everything we’re doing in that two hours. I’ve written all my scripts by the time I’ve got here; I’ve got the running order.
There’s a lot of blank sections that you fill in after qualifying, the whole of part two I can’t write a single word for yet, but that’s the excitement. And you obviously can’t write the ending of any television programme on sport, not a single thing, but I love that bit.
You’ve covered many different sporting events as you mentioned earlier, as well as non-sporting events before that. How do you get the best out of the different personalities involved?
I’m a journalist, I’m not a TV presenter. I’ve covered the Lockerbie trial, general elections, a lot of different sports. You prep, you can’t be a fan. You go in there as a professional, and if you make friends with people, that’s a bonus.
You have to get that level of respect, and I think that’s something you see in quite a lot of the F1 interviews, that level of respect you get from drivers. That’s something I’ve always tried to work hard on. I don’t need to be someone’s friend who I interview on television, but it helps sometimes.
You can be friendly with someone, but it’s how you conduct yourself in that high-pressure moment. It doesn’t matter who I was interviewing, I would never back down from asking a question should a question need to be asked, whether they were friends or not.
Lee McKenzie interviewing Max Verstappen as part of a wider feature during the BBC’s coverage of the 2015 Belgian Grand Prix.
If we use Formula 1 as an example, I would ask the same question to every driver differently because you get to know their characters. You’ve got to be a little bit clever with it. If I was trying to ask a question to Lewis [Hamilton] and ask a question to Sebastian [Vettel], it would be the same question but phrased differently.
Is there an F1 interview you’ve done that stands out from the rest, or was a highlight for you?
A lot of interviews with Seb, they always go slightly wrong, but all good fun. I did a hard-hitting sit-down piece with Fernando a few years ago, I was very pleased about that one. You get a good feel for when you’ve done a good interview, and a lot of that comes down to knowing the person and a bit of respect.
Lewis is great to sit down with as well when he’s very open, and touches upon a lot of different things.
Michael Schumacher’s probably one I would single out as, doing interviews with that I really liked. I loved working with Michael, I had a great relationship with him, we did some lovely interviews together.
I took the horse over to his yard and competed. Any time I could spend with Michael at that moment felt special, and not just because of the situation now. I went to Kerpen kart track with him and Seb where they both started out, and that was a lovely piece. Interviews like that stand out for me.
Lewis and Sebastian are the veterans of the F1 paddock now, but do you notice a different interview style for those coming through the ranks, such as Lando and George?
It’s easy to be unguarded and open when you first start out, you measure it on what happens in ten years’ time.
Max has been the same. I spent two days with him and his family in Belgium a few years ago, that was a lovely piece. Of course, you wouldn’t get the opportunity to do that now but I don’t think he’s changed as a person. He was hard-hitting as it was.
I think him and Charles are very open, but again it’s what happens in five years’ time when people’s careers progress that makes them have to shut down a little bit and that to me is understandable.
If you were to give advice to budding journalists coming through the ranks, what would you say?
I would say: prep. There’s no doubt that media in the past 15 to 20 years has changed. But don’t copy and paste. Own the content that you make, and do it with pride.
There’s a lot of people that come to me and say “I want to be a motor sport journalist, can you give me any tips” and I would look at their Twitter feed, and it’s like a crazed fan.
You’ve got to conduct yourself in a way that conveys respect. You’ve got to be a journalist; you can’t be a motor sport journalist I would suggest. I would say that the best journalists in sport come from that news background because it’s a very well-grounded thing, and then follow your passion, and immerse yourself in it.
Bringing it back round to the W Series, the series is not only aiding their on-track skills, but also their media behaviour as well in interviews.
Sometimes it feels like that [coaching], not just the Brits but a lot of European based drivers have known me, or have been watching me on TV.
We do sit down a little bit sometimes and talk things through. They want know how to come to a Grand Prix, they want to know how to do more media stuff, and how they should be conducting themselves.
I will never volunteer that, but if someone wants advice, then absolutely, I’m happy to give that advice.
My thanks go to Lee McKenzie for spending the time with me on the above piece.
Formula 1’s television audience in the United Kingdom has dropped by between five and ten percent compared with the first half of 2018, analysis conducted by Motorsport Broadcasting suggests.
2019 heralds the start of a new era for F1 in the UK, after Sky Sports snatched exclusive rights to the championship back in 2016, in a deal that lasts until the end of 2024. The broadcaster sub-let the free-to-air element of their contract to Channel 4, in a one-year deal. The free-to-air element covers highlights of every race, as well as live coverage of the British Grand Prix.
Now in their eighth season, Sky have cemented their status in the F1 paddock as one of the sport’s main broadcasters. But how have viewing figures stacked up in the first half of 2019 compared to last year?
Overnight viewing figures
Traditionally at this point, Motorsport Broadcasting would use the UK overnight viewing figures data to generate averages across several years, using the data for comparative purposes. Unfortunately, as of April, due to circumstances beyond Motorsport Broadcasting’s control, this site no longer has access to that data.
To continue to access overnight data would cost a significant amount, and is not a viable option financially for an independent writer. Instead, we must now rely on a limited amount of consolidated audience data via the BARB website.
Overnight audience figures, known in the industry as Live + VOSDAL (live and ‘video on same day as live’), are released the day after transmission, whereas consolidated audience figures include viewers who watched via the TV set within seven days of broadcast, and exclude commercial breaks.
Therefore, the consolidated audience figures in this piece cannot be compared to overnight audience data elsewhere on this site.
The consolidated data in this piece covers the TV set only, to allow for fair and accurate comparisons with 2018. The figures exclude viewers who are watching via on-demand platforms, such as All 4, Sky Go and Now TV, which is likely to make up a larger portion of Formula 1’s audience than in previous years.
Although Motorsport Broadcasting no longer has access to overnight audience figures, I still intend to present a fair and accurate picture of Formula 1 viewing figures in the UK, as increasingly difficult as that becomes over the months ahead.
The analysis in this article covers the first eleven races of the season, meaning that the Hungarian Grand Prix is excluded.
Channel 4
In 2018, Channel 4 aired five of the first eleven rounds live, with the remaining six airing in highlights form. Now in its new contract with Sky, only one of the first eleven rounds have aired live this season, that being the British Grand Prix.
The free-to-air broadcaster splits their live race day programming into three blocks: build-up, the race itself and post-race reaction.
To present a fair comparison between live and highlights, this site uses the first two portions to generate a weighted average. For ease of analysis, we assume that Channel 4’s build-up is 40 minutes long, with 160 minutes for the race segment.
Channel 4’s programming in the first half of 2019 averaged 1.71 million viewers a decrease of 18.4 percent on the equivalent 2018 figure of 2.10 million viewers, a loss of 387,000 viewers on average.
On a like-for-like basis, Channel 4’s six highlights programmes in 2018 averaged 1.93 million viewers, compared with 1.68 million viewers for their ten highlights programmes so far in 2019, a decrease of 12.8 percent, or 247,000 viewers.
If 100 people watch Channel 4’s coverage, but only 40 people on average tune in for the wrap-around analysis (same as other sports events), the average in 2018 would be 75 compared to 68 in 2019, a decrease of 9 percent.
There are two main factors as to why Channel 4’s audience has dropped by between 10 and 20 percent, depending on the metric you use. The first is simply that a portion of Channel 4’s audience has shifted to Sky since 2018 (see below).
However, the make-up of Channel 4’s highlights has changed since 2018, due to restrictions imposed on them by Sky. A two-hour programme, with less on-track action will inevitably result in a lower average audience for the entire programme. A portion of the audience only cares about the on-track action and will skip over the chatter.
2019 started on a painful note for Channel 4, with four of the opening five races recording drops of over 30 percent. It is no coincidence that the first three races also aired live on Sky’s general entertainment channel Sky One, suggesting that Sky’s move did significant damage to Channel 4’s audience in the early phase of the season.
The scale of the year-on-year drop has diminished as the season headed towards the Summer break, but only two races have increased their audience year-on-year on Channel 4. France (up 20.2 percent) and Austria (up 3.8 percent) recorded poor numbers in 2018 due to the FIFA World Cup.
A spectacular German Grand Prix proved to be Channel 4’s highlight in the first half of 2019, averaging 2.10 million viewers, but even that was down by 16.3 percent year-on-year.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, 1.20 million viewers watched the Canadian Grand Prix in a late-night 23:00 time slot which, although it is their lowest number of the year, is a respectable figure, and down a relatively small 5.1 percent year-on-year.
Sky Sports
Ten out of the first eleven races in 2019 aired exclusively live on Sky. That, combined with a huge pre-season advertising campaign, means an increase in Sky’s audience figures is expected. But, has the pay television broadcaster clawed back the loss that Channel 4 has made, or do we end up with a net loss overall?
As highlighted above, Sky aired the first three races of 2019 on Sky One to try to attract further subscribers to Sky Sports F1. As in 2018, Sky split their programming into four blocks: Pit Lane Live, On the Grid, the race itself and Paddock Live.
Calculating a three-and-a-half-hour average, as this site has historically done, is impossible without access to detailed five-minute breakdowns. Instead, we will use the whole of On the Grid (35 minutes in length) and the race itself (around 135 minutes), using those figures to produce a weighted average per race.
Unfortunately, the data on BARB’s website for Sky’s F1 programming is incomplete, with the following data points missing:
2018
Australia – Sky Sports Main Event [On the Grid]
China – Sky Sports Main Event [On the Grid]
Monaco – Sky One [both]
Canada – Sky Sports F1 [both]
Britain – Sky One [both]
2019
Australia – Sky One [both]; Sky Sports Main Event [On the Grid]
Bahrain – Sky One [On the Grid]
China – Sky One [both]; Sky Sports Main Event [On the Grid]
Germany – Sky Sports Main Event [both]
I appreciate this is far from ideal, but it cannot be helped, without paying to access the missing data points.
You might argue that, without these data points, analysis of Sky’s data is meaningless. I would argue in response that writing an analytical article on Channel 4’s viewing figures without mentioning Sky’s own figures only paints one side of the story, and is also meaningless without accounting for the wider context.
Of course, the analysis from this point forward should be treated with a degree of caution. But I would rather write about it and let an informed debate happen, instead of choosing not to publish an article at all.
Based on the published consolidated data, a weighted average of at least 782,000 viewers have watched Sky’s F1 programming in 2019, covering both On the Grid and the race itself, an increase of 27.7 percent, or 170,000 viewers, on the 2018 figure of 612,000 viewers.
The averages above include simulcasts where BARB have reported the data, and excludes Canada, as there is no 2018 data available. Sky’s 2019 audience figures are likely to be significantly higher when accounting for the missing 2019 data.
On balance, the average audience for Sky One’s simulcasts of Australia and China, plus Sky Sports Main Event’s coverage from Germany, will have a greater impact than the two Sky One simulcasts in 2018 (when both races also aired live on Channel 4).
We know that Sky One did very well for the opening rounds (although Australia and China failed to make Sky One’s top 15 in the respective weeks), whilst Germany will add a few hundred thousand viewers on Sky Sports Main Event (for which there is no data for that week).
The Bahrain Grand Prix has been Sky’s highlight of the season so far. Airing across Sky Sports F1 and Sky One, the race itself averaged 1.41 million viewers, a figure double last year’s Sky F1-only figure of 713,000 viewers.
Close behind, a controversial Canadian Grand Prix averaged 1.38 million viewers for the race segment across Sky’s F1 channel and Sky Sports Main Event. More impressively, Sky’s Paddock Live segment for Canada averaged 370,000 viewers from 21:25 to 22:00, one of their highest ever figures for the post-race show.
What can we decipher?
Based on the data we have available publicly, Channel 4’s coverage averaged 1.71 million viewers during the first half of 2019, a decrease of 387,000 viewers year-on-year. Sky’s coverage has averaged 782,000 viewers, an increase of 170,000 viewers (ignoring Canada).
Last year, the split between Channel 4 and Sky was 77:23, compared with 69:31 this year, both in Channel 4’s favour.
Combined, an average audience of at least 2.50 million viewers have watched Formula 1 so far in 2019, compared with 2.71 million viewers in 2018, a decrease of 217,000 viewers, or 8.0 percent. The decrease year-on-year is likely to be smaller than that, given the missing data points for Sky.
If we are to assume:
Sky One’s 2019 simulcasts of Australia and China averaged 200,000 viewers each
Sky Sports Main Event’s 2019 simulcast of Germany averaged 300,000 viewers
Sky One’s 2018 simulcasts of Britain and Monaco averaged 150,000 viewers each
This would bring Sky’s average up to 837,000 viewers, an excellent increase of 201,000 viewers year-on-year. It would bring the combined average audience up to 2.55 million viewers, compared with 2.74 million viewers twelve months ago, a year-on-year decrease of 185,000 viewers, or 6.8 percent.
Whichever way you cut it, Formula 1’s viewing figures in the UK have dropped year-on-year. Whilst any drop is disappointing, the decrease is less than 10 percent, and could well be closer to 5 percent when including all the consolidated data.
Yes, the headline figures are down, but in the context of the changing television landscape and the new television deal, the figures are not actually that bad.
Formula 1 cannot be complacent though; the sport needs to work with broadcasters to try to stop the audience decline. An extension to Channel 4’s highlights package for 2020 is needed to keep the free-to-air, mass audience shop window open.
Research from UK’s telecommunications authority Ofcom, released on August 7th, showed that whilst traditional television viewing is still top dog, viewing is falling at a “slightly faster rate” than in previous years, which Ofcom attributes to “the changing habits and preferences of viewers.”
According to Ofcom, around half of UK homes now subscriber to at least one streaming service, whilst young people spend an hour a day on YouTube. With F1 now releasing highlights in a variety of formats across social media, it is inevitable that their television audience figures for non-live programming will be hit harder as a result.
What we have not mentioned at all so far in this piece is the impact that the on-track action can have on audience figures. Formula 1 has had a fantastic period on-track heading into the Summer break, with thrillers in Austria, Britain, Germany, and Hungary.
But what 2019 lacks that 2018 had is the championship battle up-front, and that could be a turn off for television viewers as the season heads into the final half, beginning with the Belgian Grand Prix in two weeks’ time.
After one of the best Formula 1 races of the modern era, the Grand Prix paddock heads to the Hungaroring for the final stop before the Summer break.
At least two on-screen talent have already started their F1 break. Germany was Ted Kravitz’s last race for Sky until Italy, meaning that neither him nor his Notebook output will be present this weekend in Hungary, or in Belgium after the break.
Over on the BBC, Jennie Gow is not with 5 Live out in Hungary, instead W Series lead commentator Claire Cottingham takes up station in pit lane.
The Budapest schedule takes up a different feel this weekend, with Formula Two and Formula Three swapping places on Saturday. The reason for this is that Formula Three qualifying takes place on Saturday morning, not Friday evening as at earlier rounds.
For UK viewers, Sky have opted to prioritise The F1 Show over the first Formula Three race, the latter airing on a short tape-delay.
Elsewhere on the scheduling front, MotoGP returns from its Summer break in the Czech Republic. But fans without BT Sport will discover that free-to-air highlights on Quest are now airing in an even later slot. The broadcaster has moved their highlights from 22:00 to 23:00, likely due to poor viewing figures.
It is a busy weekend, with the British Touring Car Championship and World Rally Championship also returning from their Summer holidays.
Channel 4 F1
03/08 – 18:30 to 20:00 – Qualifying Highlights
04/08 – 19:00 to 21:00 – Race Highlights
Sky Sports F1 Sessions
02/08 – 09:45 to 11:55 – Practice 1
02/08 – 13:45 to 15:50 – Practice 2
03/08 – 10:45 to 12:30
=> 10:45 – Practice 3
=> 12:10 – Paddock Walkabout
03/08 – 13:00 to 15:30 – Qualifying
=> 13:00 – Pre-Show
=> 13:55 – Qualifying
04/08 – 12:30 to 17:00 – Race
=> 12:30 – Pit Lane Live (also Sky Sports Main Event from 13:00)
=> 13:30 – On the Grid (also Sky Sports Main Event)
=> 14:05 – Race (also Sky Sports Main Event)
=> 16:00 – Paddock Live (also Sky Sports Main Event until 16:30)
Supplementary Programming
01/08 – 14:00 to 14:30 – Drivers’ Press Conference
01/08 – 17:00 to 17:30 – Welcome to the Weekend
02/08 – 16:30 to 17:00 – The Story so Far
03/08 – 16:30 to 17:00 – The F1 Show
07/08 – 20:30 to 21:00 – F1 Midweek Debrief
BBC Radio F1 All sessions are available live on BBC’s F1 website
01/08 – 21:30 to 22:00 – Preview (BBC Radio 5 Live)
04/08 – 14:00 to 16:00 – Race Updates (BBC Radio 5 Live)
MotoGP – Czech Republic (BT Sport 2) Also airs live on MotoGP’s Video Pass (£)
02/08 – 07:45 to 15:15 – Practice 1 and 2
03/08 – 08:00 to 15:15
=> 07:45 – Practice 3
=> 11:00 – Qualifying
04/08 – 07:30 to 15:00
=> 07:30 – Warm Ups
=> 09:15 – Moto3
=> 11:00 – Moto2
=> 12:30 – MotoGP
=> 14:00 – Chequered Flag
British Superbikes – Thruxton
03/08 – 15:30 to 18:00 – Qualifying (Eurosport 2)
04/08 – 13:00 to 18:00 – Races (Eurosport 2)
07/08 – 20:00 to 21:00 – Highlights (ITV4)
British Talent Cup – Czech Republic
03/08 – 15:15 to 16:15 – Race 1 (BT Sport 2)
04/08 – 14:15 to 15:15 – Race 2 (BT Sport 3)
British Touring Car Championship – Snetterton (ITV4)
04/08 – 10:45 to 18:30 – Races
Formula Two – Hungary (Sky Sports F1)
02/08 – 11:55 to 12:45 – Practice
02/08 – 15:50 to 16:30 – Qualifying
03/08 – 09:00 to 10:15 – Race 1
04/08 – 10:15 to 11:15 – Race 2
Formula Three – Hungary (Sky Sports F1)
03/08 – 07:55 to 08:30 – Qualifying
03/08 – 16:00 to 16:55 – Race 1 Tape-Delay
04/08 – 08:55 to 09:45 – Race 2
Speedway Grand Prix – Poland (BT Sport 3)
03/08 – 17:45 to 21:15 – Races
World Rally Championship – Finland (All Live) Also airs live on WRCPlus.com (£)
01/08 – 17:00 to 19:00 – Stage 1 (BT Sport Extra 3)
02/08 – 06:00 to 19:15 – Stages 2 to 11 (BT Sport Extra 1)
03/08 – 06:00 to 18:00 – Stages 12 to 19 (BT Sport Extra 1)
04/08 – 05:30 to 12:45 – Stages 20 to 23 (BT Sport Extra 1)
World Rally Championship – Finland
01/08 – 18:00 to 19:00 – Stage 1 (BT Sport 1)
02/08 – 01:00 to 02:00 – Day 1 Highlights (BT Sport 3)
02/08 – 18:00 to 19:00 – Stage 11 (BT Sport 1)
02/08 – 22:30 to 23:00 – Day 2 Highlights (BT Sport 1)
03/08 – 15:00 to 16:00 – Stage 18 (BT Sport 1)
03/08 – 21:15 to 21:45 – Day 3 Highlights (BT Sport 3)
04/08 – 07:30 to 08:30 – Stage 21 (BT Sport 1)
04/08 – 11:00 to 12:30 – Stage 23 [Power Stage] (BT Sport 1)
05/08 – 19:00 to 20:00 – Highlights (5Spike)
As always, the schedule will be updated if details change.
Germany plays host to the half way stage of the Formula 1 season, as the paddock heads to Hockenheim.
After live coverage at Silverstone, it is back to highlights for Channel 4 for the remainder of the season, as Billy Monger joins the team for the weekend alongside regulars Steve Jones, David Coulthard and Ben Edwards. Sky’s coverage of qualifying and the race airs across their F1 channel and Main Event.
Due to the different contractual arrangements in play between F1 and circuit organisers, Formula Two and Formula Three are again absent, leaving a lighter weekend schedule for fans attending the Grand Prix. The last time Formula Two (or GP2 as it was known then) raced at Hockenheim was back in 2016.
Elsewhere, the IndyCar Series heats up, with only four races remaining following the Mid-Ohio round. It is also a busy weekend on the endurance front, with Spa and Suzuka playing host to four- and two-wheel racing respectively.
Channel 4 F1
27/07 – 18:30 to 20:00 – Qualifying Highlights
28/07 – 19:00 to 21:00 – Race Highlights
Sky Sports F1 Sessions
26/07 – 09:45 to 11:45 – Practice 1 (also Sky Sports Main Event until 11:00)
26/07 – 13:45 to 15:45 – Practice 2
27/07 – 10:45 to 12:30
=> 10:45 – Practice 3
=> 12:10 – Paddock Walkabout
27/07 – 13:00 to 15:30 – Qualifying
=> 13:00 – Pre-Show
=> 13:55 – Qualifying (also Sky Sports Main Event from 14:00)
28/07 – 12:30 to 17:30 – Race
=> 12:30 – Pit Lane Live
=> 13:30 – On the Grid (also Sky Sports Main Event)
=> 14:05 – Race (also Sky Sports Main Event)
=> 16:00 – Paddock Live (also Sky Sports Main Event)
=> 17:00 – Notebook (also Sky Sports Main Event)
Supplementary Programming
25/07 – 14:00 to 14:30 – Drivers’ Press Conference
25/07 – 17:00 to 17:30 – Welcome to the Weekend
26/07 – 16:00 to 16:30 – The Story so Far
27/07 – 15:30 to 16:00 – The F1 Show (also Sky Sports Main Event)
30/07 – 20:30 to 21:00 – F1 Midweek Debrief
BBC Radio F1 All sessions are available live on BBC’s F1 website
25/07 – 19:30 to 20:30 – Preview (BBC Radio 5 Live)
27/07 – 14:00 to 15:05 – Qualifying (BBC Radio 5 Live)
28/07 – 14:00 to 16:00 – Race (BBC Radio 5 Live)
Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup – 24 Hours of Spa Also airs live on YouTube
27/07 and 28/07 – Race
=> 15:15 to 17:00 (Eurosport 2)
=> 21:00 to 22:30 (Eurosport 2)
=> 09:30 [Sunday] to 10:50 (Eurosport)
=> 14:00 to 16:00 (Eurosport 2)
IndyCar Series – Mid-Ohio (Sky Sports F1)
27/07 – 19:30 to 21:30 – Qualifying
28/07 – 20:30 to 23:00 – Race
Virgin Australia Supercars – Ipswich Also airs live on SuperView (£)
27/07 – 06:45 to 08:30 – Race 1 (BT Sport 2)
28/07 – 04:45 to 06:45 – Race 2 (BT Sport 3)
Motorsport Broadcasting 