Scheduling: The 2018 Santiago E-Prix / Race of Champions

The Formula E season moves to South America and its first visit to Chile for the Santiago E-Prix!

For UK viewers, the championship gets the short straw. The race is not live on Channel 5, largely because it would rate significantly lower than their usual line-up, meaning live coverage airs on 5Spike.

Surprisingly, Channel 5 are not airing delayed highlights either, so the only opportunity for viewers to watch the Chile round in a timely fashion is through 5Spike or Eurosport 2. Formula E moves from Eurosport’s main channel due to live snooker from Germany. So next weekend will be a low rating one for Formula E, more so than usual.

Elsewhere, Sky Sports F1 have secured the Race of Champions event for the third time running (following 2015 and 2017). Although unconfirmed, I suspect Channel 4 will again broadcast highlights in mid-March. Andrew Coley and Neil Cole are providing commentary, with David Croft and Jennie Gow reporting from the paddock.

Formula E – Santiago (online via YouTube)
03/02 – 10:55 to 11:55 – Practice 1
03/02 – 13:25 to 14:10 – Practice 2

Formula E – Santiago
03/02 – 14:45 to 16:10 – Qualifying (5Spike)
03/02 – 18:00 to 20:15 (Eurosport 2)
=> 18:00 – Preview
=> 18:15 – Qualifying [tape delay]
=> 19:00 – Race
03/02 – 18:30 to 20:20 – Race (5Spike)

Race of Champions – Riyadh (Sky Sports F1)
02/02 – 17:00 to 20:00 – Race of Champions (also Sky Sports Main Event until 19:30)
03/02 – 13:00 to 16:00 – Nations Cup (also Sky Sports Mix)

The above schedule will be amended if anything changes.

Scheduling: The 2018 Marrakesh E-Prix

After a break for Christmas, the Formula E series returns with race three of the 2017-18 season taking place in Marrakesh.

Channel 5 are airing live coverage of the race, having broadcast the double-header from Hong Kong on tape-delay. The broadcaster appears to complimenting their coverage with an hour-long build-up, the longest since ITV covered the championship. I did wonder if the first half hour was an episode of Formula E’s Street Racers magazine show, but there is no indication that this is the case.

In further good news, Channel 5’s sister channel 5Spike (previously Spike) are airing qualifying live. As in Hong Kong, Vernon Kay will be on hand to present their output, including qualifying, with Jack Nicholls, Dario Franchitti and Bob Varsha providing World Feed commentary.

Eurosport will also air the race live, with qualifying on tape-delay. Expect to see them add their own flavour over the World Feed broadcast, with Tom Gaymor and Mike Conway at the helm.

Formula E – Marrakesh (online via YouTube)
13/01 – 07:55 to 08:55 – Practice 1
13/01 – 10:25 to 11:10 – Practice 2

Formula E – Marrakesh
13/01 – 10:30 to 11:25 – Preview (Channel 5)
13/01 – 11:45 to 13:10 – Qualifying (5Spike)
13/01 – 15:00 to 17:15 (Eurosport)
=> 15:00 – Preview
=> 15:15 – Qualifying [tape delay]
=> 16:00 – Race
13/01 – 15:30 to 17:15 – Race (Channel 5)

If the schedule changes, I will update the above.

Update on January 13th at 11:40 – It looks like Channel 5’s schedule changed late in the day, as the Preview show was actually a Season Preview, and moved to 10:30, extended to an hour in length. So, their live Marrakesh show actually starts at 15:30 UK time.

Sky F1’s Christmas schedule takes shape

Three new review shows will be part of Sky Sports F1’s Christmas festivities in the forthcoming weeks along with two feature length interviews. Following on from their main review which first aired on Sunday 3rd December, the following shows will also air over Christmas:

– The now-regular Journalists Special airs on the F1 channel on Wednesday 13th December from 20:30 to 21:30. Will Buxton, Chris Medland and Jonathan McEvoy are the guests.
– A special in-depth interview will air with 2017 Drivers’ Champion Lewis Hamilton over the festive period. The show, entitled Lewis Hamilton: My 4th World Title, premieres on Christmas Day from 14:00 to 14:30.
– The Sky Sports F1 team gather together for a Sky F1 Christmas Special, which first airs on Christmas Day from 16:00 to 17:00 (simulcast on Sky Sports Main Event).

The airings listed are the first linear television airing, but expect the three programmes to turn up on Sky’s On Demand service prior to their linear showing.

Sky are also airing special interviews with Zak Brown and Adrian Newey over the festive period. The two shows receive a linear television première on Boxing Day at 11:00 and 11:35 respectively.

Between now and Christmas, Sky are replaying every race session from 2017 in full, with classic races also airing in a variety of time slots. Formula Two takes pride of place in Sky’s schedules between Christmas and New Year, with races airing daily from 11:00 between the 26th and 30th December.

Elsewhere, BBC Radio 5 Live is host to two specials:

– Jennie Gow hosts a special focusing on the role and future of Grid Girls. The show airs on Thursday 14th December from 20:00
– The one-hour 5 Live F1 Season Review premieres on the radio station on Christmas Eve at 11:00

Further details will be added to this post as they become available.

Updated on Wednesday 20th December.

Scheduling: The 2017 Hong Kong E-Prix

“When the moment comes, let’s stand together!” Formula E is back for its fourth season! The championship heads to Hong Kong for their first two E-Prix (note the new stylisation) of the 2017-18 season.

Live coverage of the race in the United Kingdom will air on Eurosport, following a wider deal between Eurosport’s international arm and Formula E. However, despite also having live rights, free-to-air broadcaster Channel 5 are airing both Hong Kong races on a two-hour tape-delay. To a degree, the tape-delay does not matter much given the races start at 07:00 UK time each day, and Channel 5 would argue that the audience demand to watch Formula E at that time is very small.

When Channel 5 committed to Formula E in 2016, they did so on the basis that every race would be live on television, but as fans saw Channel 5 broke that promise towards the end of season three. Channel 5 say that “some” races will air live on their station this season; just how many remains unclear. Vernon Kay replaces Andy Jaye as Channel 5’s lead presenter, steering the ship on-site from Hong Kong, although it feels rather moot to be on-site with tape-delayed coverage, but that is the situation Channel 5 have decided to proceed with.

Elsewhere, both Channel 4 and Sky are airing their Formula 1 season reviews this weekend, meaning that neither channel will be airing original F1 content over the festive period. Channel 4’s review will be voiced by Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch. The AUTOSPORT Awards return on Sunday with a new look. Under the ownership of Motorsport Network, out goes Steve Rider and in come Lee McKenzie and David Coulthard as presenters. Motorsport Network have collaborated with Velocity, part owned by Coulthard, on the revamp.

Formula E – Hong Kong (online via YouTube)
01/12 (Friday night)– 22:55 to 23:55 – Race 1, Practice 1
02/12 – 01:25 to 02:10 – Race 1, Practice 2
02/12 – 02:45 to 04:10 – Race 1, Qualifying
03/12 – 00:25 to 01:25 – Race 2, Practice
03/12 – 02:45 to 04:10 – Race 2, Qualifying

Formula E – Hong Kong
02/12 – 06:00 to 08:00 – Race 1 (Eurosport)
=> 06:00 to 06:45 – Qualifying [tape delay]
=> 06:45 to 08:00 – Race [live]
02/12 – 09:00 to 10:45 – Race 1 (Channel 5)
03/12 – 06:00 to 08:00 – Race 2 (Eurosport)
=> 06:00 to 06:45 – Qualifying [tape delay]
=> 06:45 to 08:00 – Race [live]
03/12 – 08:55 to 10:40 – Race 2 (Channel 5)

AUTOSPORT Awards (Motorsport.tv)
03/12 – 20:30 to 23:35
=> 20:30 – A Night of Stars: 30 Years of the AUTOSPORT Awards
=> 21:30 – Live Ceremony

Formula 1
03/12 – 00:30 to 01:00 – Nico Rosberg: My Life after F1 (BBC News)
=> repeated throughout the weekend
03/12 – 12:00 to 13:00 – 2017 Season Review (Sky Sports F1)
03/12 – 13:00 to 14:00 – 2017 Season Review (Channel 4)

World Touring Car Championship – Qatar (Eurosport 2)
01/12 – 11:30 to 13:00
=> 11:30 – Qualifying
=> 12:30 – MAC3 race
01/12 – 18:15 to 20:15
=> 18:15 – Race 1
=> 19:15 – Race 2

As always, the schedule will be updated if anything changes.

Scheduling: The 2017 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

The 2017 Formula One season concludes, as it has done since 2014, with the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The race will be notable for being, at least for the moment, the last race without the Halo closed cockpit solution, which comes into force from 2018.

Channel 4 and Sky are airing live coverage of the season finale, with both broadcasters supplementing their usual programming with special shows. Channel 4 have a Guy Martin special, as part of their ‘Rise of the Robots’ season. The episode features, amongst other robotic adventures, Martin challenging the Roboracer to a race around Silverstone. The broadcaster also continues their F1 Meets series, with David Coulthard interviewing Niki Lauda.

Sky will be airing the F1 Esports Final on Saturday evening as 20 racers battle it out to become the inaugural F1 Esports Champion. The event will also stream live across Facebook and Twitch. Sky are also showing a 30-minute behind the scenes special looking at how the Sauber team transports equipment around the world: from Spa to Monza and Singapore. This is an extension of a feature shown during the Singapore weekend, which is great to see.

With the championship battle over, BBC’s coverage is primarily on Radio 5 Live Sports Extra for the second race running.

Channel 4 F1
Sessions
24/11 – 08:55 to 10:35 – Practice 1
24/11 – 12:55 to 15:00 – Practice 2
25/11 – 09:55 to 11:25 – Practice 3
25/11 – 11:55 to 14:45 – Qualifying
26/11 – 12:00 to 16:35 – Race
=> 12:00 – Build–Up
=> 12:35 – Race
=> 15:10 – Reaction

Supplementary Programming
25/11 – 11:25 to 11:55 – F1 Meets… Niki Lauda
26/11 – 21:00 to 22:00 – Guy Martin vs the Robot Car

Sky Sports F1
Sessions
24/11 – 08:45 to 11:00 – Practice 1
24/11 – 12:45 to 14:50 – Practice 2 (also Sky Sports Main Event)
25/11 – 09:45 to 11:15 – Practice 3
25/11 – 12:00 to 14:35 – Qualifying
26/11 – 11:30 to 16:15 – Race (also Sky Sports Mix)
=> 11:30 – Track Parade
=> 12:00 – Pit Lane Live
=> 12:30 – Race
=> 15:30 – Paddock Live

Supplementary Programming
22/11 – 20:00 to 20:30 – F1 Special: The Race Between Races
22/11 – 20:30 to 21:00 – F1 Report: Preview
23/11 – 11:00 to 12:00 – Driver Press Conference (also Sky Sports Main Event)
23/11 – 17:00 to 17:15 – Paddock Uncut
24/11 – 15:30 to 16:30 – Team Press Conference
24/11 – 16:30 to 17:00 – The F1 Show
25/11 – 16:00 to 19:00 – Live F1 Esports Final
29/11 – 20:30 to 21:00 – F1 Report: Review

BBC Radio F1
24/11 – 12:55 to 14:35 – Practice 2 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
25/11 – 09:55 to 11:05 – Practice 3 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
25/11 – 12:55 to 14:05 – Qualifying (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
26/11 – 12:30 to 15:00 – Race (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)

Formula Two – Abu Dhabi (Sky Sports F1)
24/11 – 07:30 to 08:15 – Practice
24/11 – 15:00 to 15:30 – Qualifying
25/11 – 14:40 to 15:45 – Race 1
26/11 – 10:10 to 11:15 – Race 2

GP3 Series – Abu Dhabi (Sky Sports F1)
24/11 – 11:10 to 11:45 – Qualifying
25/11 – 08:20 to 09:15 – Race 1
26/11 – 08:45 to 09:30 – Race 2

The schedule above will be updated if anything changes.