Scheduling: The 2018 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

It is the end of the 2018 Formula One season this weekend, and with it marks the end of one broadcasting era for fans in the United Kingdom.

Outside of the British Grand Prix, this weekend’s season finale in Abu Dhabi is the last F1 race live on free-to-air television for UK fans until at least 2025. From 2019, Sky Sports will air every race exclusively live, the exception being Britain which, for 2019 at least, will also air live on Channel 4.

Channel 4 will air highlights of the remaining races in 2019, but their future beyond next season is currently unknown. With only one race live next year, this weekend is likely the last covering Formula 1 for several of their team.

Lee McKenzie is one name who definitely will not be part of Channel 4’s F1 team in 2019, having covered Formula 1 for ten seasons, McKenzie having initially joined the BBC at the start of the 2009 season. The rest of Channel 4’s team, and Sky’s for that matter, for 2019 will no doubt become clear over the coming weeks.

Channel 4 F1
Sessions
23/11 – 08:55 to 10:35 – Practice 1
23/11 – 12:55 to 15:00 – Practice 2
24/11 – 09:55 to 11:25 – Practice 3
24/11 – 11:55 to 14:45 – Qualifying
25/11 – 12:00 to 16:35 – Race
=> 12:00 – Build-Up
=> 12:45 – Race
=> 15:25 – Reaction

Supplementary Programming
24/11 – 11:25 to 11:55 – Hamilton vs Vettel: The Fight for Five

Sky Sports F1
Sessions
23/11 – 08:45 to 10:50 – Practice 1
23/11 – 12:45 to 14:55 – Practice 2 (also Sky Sports Main Event)
24/11 – 09:45 to 11:15 – Practice 3
24/11 – 12:00 to 14:30 – Qualifying (also Sky One)
=> 12:00 – Pre-Show
=> 12:55 – Qualifying
25/11 – 11:30 to 17:10 – Race
=> 11:30 – Pit Lane Live (also Sky One)
=> 12:30 – On the Grid (also Sky One)
=> 13:05 – Race (also Sky One)
=> 15:30 – Paddock Live

Supplementary Programming
22/11 – 11:00 to 11:30 – Driver Press Conference
22/11 – 14:00 to 14:30 – Welcome to the Weekend
24/11 – 15:30 to 16:05 – The F1 Show

BBC Radio F1
22/11 – 20:30 to 21:00 – Preview (BBC Radio 5 Live)
23/11 – 12:55 to 14:35 – Practice 2 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
24/11 – 09:55 to 11:05 – Practice 3 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
24/11 – 12:55 to 14:05 – Qualifying (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
25/11 – 13:00 to 15:00 – Race (BBC Radio 5 Live)

Formula Two – Abu Dhabi (Sky Sports F1)
23/11 – 07:25 to 08:15 – Practice
23/11 – 14:55 to 15:35 – Qualifying
24/11 – 14:30 to 15:30 – Race 1
25/11 – 09:30 to 10:30 – Race 2

GP3 Series – Abu Dhabi (Sky Sports F1)
23/11 – 11:05 to 11:45 – Qualifying
24/11 – 08:25 to 09:15 – Race 1
25/11 – 08:05 to 08:50 – Race 2

The schedule above will be updated if anything changes.

Scheduling: The 2018 Rally Australia / Valencian MotoGP

Ogier. Neuville. Tanak. Three contenders, but only one can be World Rally Champion in 2018. The rallying year comes to a climax down under in Australia, as Thierry Neuville and Ott Tanak look to dethrone Sebastien Ogier from the top of the mountain.

All the action unfolds through the night live via WRC’s over-the-top All Live platform, with selected stages and daily highlights airing on BT Sport. If you miss the live action, fear not, you can watch again on All Live via their on-demand playback. Free-to-air highlights follow later in the week as usual on Channel 5.

Also concluding this weekend are MotoGP and the World Touring Car Cup. The latter forms part of the blue riband Macau weekend which, along with the Formula Three and GT races, airs live on Eurosport. The only thing from Macau not live on Eurosport is the Macau motorcycle race, that presumably airing via Motorsport.tv’s over-the-top service.

Into the virtual world, Sky Sports F1 plays host to the final of the 2018 F1 ESports series, which is also airing live on Formula 1’s Facebook page.

Elsewhere, a special Billy Monger documentary, produced by Oxford Scientific Films, airs on BBC Two on Monday evening, the documentary looking at his ongoing road to recovery.

There is plenty of offer to whet the appetite as the motor sport season draws to a close.

World Rally Championship – Australia
Every stage live via WRCPlus.com
15/11 – 20:30 (Thursday) to 07:15 (Friday) – Day 1 (All Live)
16/11 – 12:15 to 12:45 – Day 1 Highlights (BT Sport 1)
16/11 – 20:00 (Friday) to 07:15 (Saturday) – Day 2 (All Live)
16/11 – 20:00 to 21:00 – Stage 9 (BT Sport 2)
17/11 – 01:00 to 02:00 – Stage 13 (BT Sport 1)
17/11 – 12:30 to 13:00 – Day 2 Highlights (BT Sport 2)
17/11 – 19:00 (Friday) to 03:30 (Sunday) – Day 3 (All Live)
17/11 – 21:30 to 22:30 – Stage 21 (BT Sport 2)
18/11 – 02:00 to 03:30 – Stage 24 (BT Sport 1)
18/11 – 14:00 to 14:30 – Day 3 Highlights (BT Sport 1)
21/11 – 19:00 to 20:00 – Highlights (Channel 5)

MotoGP – Valencia (BT Sport 2)
16/11 – 07:45 to 15:15 – Practice 1 and 2
17/11 – 08:00 to 15:15
=> 08:00 – Practice 3
=> 11:00 – Qualifying
18/11 – 07:30 to 15:00
=> 07:30 – Warm Ups
=> 09:15 – Moto3
=> 11:00 – Moto2
=> 12:30 – MotoGP
=> 14:00 – Chequered Flag

MotoGP – Valencia (Channel 5)
20/11 – 19:00 to 20:00 – Highlights

FIA GT World Cup – Macau (Eurosport)
18/11 – 04:00 to 05:30 – Race

Formula Three World Cup – Macau (Eurosport)
18/11 – 07:30 to 08:30 – Race

World Touring Car Cup – Macau (Eurosport)
17/11 – 06:00 to 07:30 – Race 1
18/11 – 00:00 to 01:15 – Race 2
18/11 – 03:00 to 04:00 – Race 3

World Endurance Championship – 8 Hours of Shanghai
18/11 – 02:30 to 09:30 – Race (BT Sport 3)
18/11 – 05:30 to 07:30 (Eurosport)
18/11 – 08:30 to 09:15 (Eurosport)

F1 ESports Series (Sky Sports F1)
17/11 – 19:00 to 21:00 – Final

Driven: The Billy Monger Story
19/11 – 21:00 to 22:00 (BBC Two)

The schedule above will be updated if anything changes.

Scheduling: The 2018 Brazilian Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton may have wrapped the Drivers’ Championship up last time out in Mexico, but the battle continues between Mercedes and Ferrari for the Constructors’ Championship as Formula 1 heads to Interlagos for the penultimate round of the 2018 Formula One season.

Current schedules for the weekend indicate that the race will air live across both Sky Sports F1 and Sky One. If this does not change, it will be the first time ever that a Sky-exclusive race has aired live on Sky One, meaning that the race will be available to a much wider audience across pay-TV (satellite and cable).

The Grand Prix faces tough competition on Sunday afternoon however, with Manchester United taking on rivals Manchester City in the Premier League, that game airing live on Sky Sports Premier League and Main Event.

Meanwhile, Channel 4’s race day highlights programme airs at 22:30, later than their provisional billing of 22:00. The reason for this is that BBC One are running Dynasties across the 21:00 junction, with programmes beginning at 20:30, 21:30 and 22:30 respectively. ITV’s primetime programming was due to start at half past the hour anyway, but the other major channels have followed suit, including Channel 4.

On the personnel front, Louise Goodman is Channel 4’s pit lane reporter for their penultimate race in the current 2016 to 2018 contract. Elsewhere, BBC’s 5 Live preview show is a Hamilton special following his championship victory.

Channel 4 F1
Sessions
10/11 – 20:45 to 22:15 – Qualifying Highlights
11/11 – 22:30 to 00:45 – Race Highlights

Sky Sports F1
Sessions
09/11 – 12:45 to 14:50 – Practice 1
09/11 – 16:45 to 18:50 – Practice 2
10/11 – 13:45 to 15:15 – Practice 3
10/11 – 16:00 to 18:35 – Qualifying
=> 16:00 – Pre-Show
=> 16:55 – Qualifying
11/11 – 15:30 to 20:10 – Race
=> 15:30 – Pit Lane Live
=> 16:30 – On the Grid (also Sky One)
=> 17:05 – Race (also Sky One)
=> 19:30 – Paddock Live

Supplementary Programming
08/11 – 13:00 to 13:30 – Driver Press Conference
08/11 – 18:00 to 18:30 – Welcome to the Weekend
10/11 – 18:35 to 19:10 – The F1 Show

BBC Radio F1
08/11 – 20:30 to 21:30 – Lewis Hamilton: 5 Times Champion (BBC Radio 5 Live)
09/11 – 12:55 to 14:35 – Practice 1 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
10/11 – 16:55 to 18:05 – Qualifying (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
11/11 – 17:00 to 19:00 – Race (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)

The schedule above will be updated if anything changes.

Scheduling: The 2018 Mexican Grand Prix

From Austin, the Formula 1 paddock heads south to Mexico City for round 19 of the 2018 Formula One season. Austin turned out to not be the weekend that Lewis Hamilton claimed his fifth Drivers’ Championship, the race continuing onto Mexico, with the stakes for him almost identical compared to 2017.

Sky are running a slightly longer show on Sunday, with Paddock Live extended until 22:30, possibly to cover any title celebrations that may emerge following the Grand Prix.

The bad news for fans without access to Sky Sports F1 is that Channel 4’s race day highlights slot is extremely late on the Sunday evening, their broadcast not starting until 23:00 due to the conditions stipulated in their contract.

In the unlikely event that the race goes up to the two-hour time limit, the race would not finish until 21:10, meaning that the earliest the Channel 4 highlights edit can begin is 23:10. In this situation, the programme is unlikely to begin at 22:30 without a long build-up, whereas last year it was possible with the edit starting bang on 23:00.

Elsewhere, with the premier class title already wrapped up, MotoGP heads down under to Australia as Philip Island plays host to the second part of their triple-header flyaway leg.

NOTE: Clocks go back one hour on Sunday 28th October, with the change from British Summer Time to Greenwich Mean Time. The times listed are for BST on Saturday and before; GMT for Sunday and afterwards…

Channel 4 F1
Sessions
27/10 – 22:00 to 23:35 – Qualifying Highlights
28/10 – 23:00 to 01:15 – Race Highlights

Sky Sports F1
Sessions
26/10 – 15:45 to 17:50 – Practice 1 (also Sky Sports Main Event)
26/10 – 19:45 to 21:50 – Practice 2
27/10 – 15:45 to 17:15 – Practice 3
27/10 – 18:00 to 20:30 – Qualifying
=> 18:00 – Pre-Show
=> 18:55 – Qualifying
28/10 – 17:30 to 22:30 – Race
=> 17:30 – Pit Lane Live
=> 18:30 – On the Grid (also Sky Sports Main Event)
=> 19:05 – Race (also Sky Sports Main Event)
=> 21:30 – Paddock Live

Supplementary Programming
25/10 – 17:00 to 17:30 – Driver Press Conference
25/10 – 22:00 to 22:30 – Welcome to the Weekend
27/10 – 20:30 to 21:00 – The F1 Show
31/10 – 19:00 to 21:00 – F1 eSports Pro Series

BBC Radio F1
25/10 – 21:30 to 22:00 – Preview (BBC Radio 5 Live)
26/10 – 15:55 to 17:35 – Practice 1 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
26/10 – 19:55 to 21:35 – Practice 2 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
27/10 – 15:55 to 17:05 – Practice 3 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
27/10 – 18:55 to 20:05 – Qualifying (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
28/10 – 18:30 to 21:00 – Race (BBC Radio 5 Live)

MotoGP – Australia (BT Sport 2)
26/10 – 23:45 (Thursday night) to 07:15 – Practice 1 and 2
27/10 – 00:00 to 07:15
=> 00:00 – Practice 3
=> 03:00 – Qualifying
28/10 – 00:30 (BST) to 07:15 (GMT)
=> 00:30 (BST) – Warm Ups
=> 02:15 (BST) – Moto3
=> 03:00 (GMT) – Moto2
=> 04:30 (GMT) – MotoGP

MotoGP – Australia (Channel 5)
30/10 – 19:00 to 20:00 – Highlights

Porsche Supercup – Mexico
27/10 – Race 1
=> 20:45 to 21:45 (Eurosport 2)
=> 21:00 to 21:40 (Sky Sports F1)
28/10 – Race 2
=> 16:00 to 17:00 (Sky Sports F1)
=> 16:00 to 17:00 (Eurosport 2)

World Rally Championship – Spain
Every stage live via WRCPlus.com
26/10 – 11:00 to 12:00 – Stage 1 (BT Sport 2)
26/10 – 22:00 to 22:30 – Day 1 Highlights (BT Sport 1)
27/10 – 09:00 to 10:00 – Stage 10 (BT Sport 1)
27/10 – 14:00 to 15:00 – Stage 13 (BT Sport/ESPN)
27/10 – 22:30 to 23:00 – Day 2 Highlights (BT Sport 1)
28/10 – 07:30 to 08:30 – Stage 16 (BT Sport 1)
28/10 – 11:00 to 12:30 – Stage 19 [Power Stage] (BT Sport 1)
28/10 – 22:30 to 23:00 – Day 3 Highlights (BT Sport 1)
31/10 – 19:00 to 20:00 – Event Highlights (Channel 5)

World Superbikes – Qatar
26/10 – 14:00 to 18:15 – Qualifying and Race 1 (Eurosport 2)
27/10 – 15:00 to 18:30 – Support and Race 2 (Eurosport 2)
01/11 – 20:00 to 21:00 – Highlights (ITV4)

World Touring Car Cup – Japan (Eurosport)
27/10 – 05:45 to 07:05 – Race 1
28/10 – 01:00 to 04:15
=> 01:00 – Qualifying
=> 01:45 – Race 2
=> 03:00 – Race 3

The schedule above will be updated if anything changes.

Scheduling: The 2018 United States Grand Prix / Japanese MotoGP

“And Lewis Hamilton is a five-time Formula 1 champion!”

Well, nearly. Just 56 laps on Sunday stand in the way between him and potentially his fifth Formula 1 championship. The United States Grand Prix airs live across Channel 4 and Sky Sports F1, with Sky One and Sky Sports Main Event also getting involved in the fun.

If Hamilton wraps up the championship in America, it will almost certainly be the final time the F1 championship is finalised live on free-to-air television, until at least 2025 because of the new deal that comes into effect from 2019 onwards.

There are several points of note for Channel 4’s coverage this weekend. As in previous years where they have aired an American round live, Friday practice airs on More 4. In a decision from the sensible scheduling department, motor racing film Rush, which focuses on the rivalry between James Hunt and Niki Lauda airs following practice two on More 4.

Channel 4 is also transitioning from practice three on Saturday straight into their live qualifying show, with a 90-minute build-up currently scheduled. I should note that provisional schedules suggested that a Lewis Hamilton special would air from 20:30 to 21:00, but that has not materialised in the final schedule cut.

On the personnel front, Tom Clarkson is Lee McKenzie’s super-sub for this round, whilst Martin Brundle returns to the Sky Sports F1 commentary box after a two-race absence.

Over in Japan, Marc Marquez has the chance to become MotoGP champion for the third year in succession, with all the action airing exclusively live on BT Sport 2.

Channel 4 F1
Sessions
19/10 – 15:55 to 17:35 – Practice 1 (More4)
19/10 – 19:55 to 21:35 – Practice 2 (More4)
20/10 – 18:55 to 23:35
=> 18:55 – Practice 3
=> 20:30 – Qualifying
21/10 – 18:00 to 22:15 – Race
=> 18:00 – Build-Up
=> 18:40 – Race
=> 21:15 – Reaction

Supplementary Programming
19/10 – 21:35 to 00:00 – FILM: Rush (More4)

Sky Sports F1
Sessions
19/10 – 15:45 to 17:50 – Practice 1
19/10 – 19:45 to 21:50 – Practice 2
20/10 – 18:45 to 20:15 – Practice 3
20/10 – 21:00 to 23:30 – Qualifying (also Sky One and Sky Sports Main Event)
=> 21:00 – Pre-Show
=> 21:55 – Qualifying
21/10 – 17:30 to 22:10 – Race
=> 17:30 – Pit Lane Live (also Sky One)
=> 18:30 – On the Grid (also Sky One and Sky Sports Main Event)
=> 19:05 – Race (also Sky One and Sky Sports Main Event)
=> 21:30 – Paddock Live

Supplementary Programming
18/10 – 17:00 to 17:30 – Driver Press Conference
18/10 – 23:00 to 23:30 – Welcome to the Weekend (also Sky Sports Main Event)
20/10 – 23:30 to 00:00 – The F1 Show (also Sky One and Sky Sports Main Event)

BBC Radio F1
18/10 – 21:00 to 22:00 – Preview (BBC Radio 5 Live)
19/10 – 15:55 to 17:35 – Practice 1 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
20/10 – 21:55 to 23:05 – Qualifying (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
21/10 – 19:00 to 21:00 – Race (BBC Radio 5 Live)

MotoGP – Japan (BT Sport 2)
19/10 – 00:45 to 08:15 – Practice 1 and 2
20/10 – 01:00 to 08:15
=> 01:00 – Practice 3
=> 04:00 – Qualifying
21/10 – 00:30 to 07:15
=> 00:30 – Warm Ups
=> 02:15 – Moto3
=> 04:00 – Moto2
=> 05:30 – MotoGP

MotoGP – Japan (Channel 5)
22/10 – 19:00 to 20:00 – Highlights

Asia Talent Cup – Motegi (BT Sport 2)
19/10 – 08:15 to 09:15 – Race 1
20/10 – 08:15 to 09:15 – Race 2

Euroformula – Barcelona
20/10 – 13:30 to 14:30 – Race 1 (BT Sport X2)
21/10 – 12:00 to 13:00 – Race 2 (BT Sport/ESPN)

Formula Renault Eurocup – Barcelona
20/10 – 11:30 to 12:45 – Race 1 (BT Sport 3)
21/10 – 15:45 to 17:00 – Race 2 (BT Sport X2)

International GT Open – Barcelona (BT Sport X2)
20/10 – 14:30 to 16:00 – Race 1
21/10 – 13:00 to 14:30 – Race 2

The schedule above will be updated if anything changes.