Scheduling: The 2015 British Grand Prix

The 2015 Formula One season creeps towards the halfway stage, with the British Grand Prix! There are two races in the next seven weeks, thanks to the demise of the German Grand Prix. The good news for those without Sky Sports is that the next three races will be broadcast live on the BBC, as confirmed to this blog earlier in the year, which is a rare occurrence as races don’t tend to be axed after the season has started.

Expect both BBC and Sky to be out in full force next weekend line-up wise. From the BBC’s perspective, they are broadcasting a 90 minute preview show on BBC Radio 5 Live in the run-up to Silverstone. However, due to Wimbledon, Friday’s practice sessions will air behind the Red Button, whilst qualifying will air on BBC Two. Thankfully, the race itself will air live on BBC One.

Over on Sky Sports, they are producing an extra F1 Show, airing live on Thursday night which is now the norm for Silverstone. Qualifying and the race are again being simulcast on Sky Sports 1 for the second race in a row. It will be interesting to see whether this trend continues after the Summer break when the football season gets going. Elsewhere, Sky are airing 2 x 30 minute shows focussing on the Formula Kart Stars competition, whilst the 1995 British Grand Prix is going to be aired in full. They showed the complete 1995 race a few weeks ago, but at the time I thought it was a scheduling mistake, when in the end they did actually show the full race!

Below are all the scheduling details for the Grand Prix that you need…

BBC F1
BBC TV – Sessions
03/07 – 09:55 to 11:30 – Practice 1 (BBC Red Button)
03/07 – 13:55 to 15:35 – Practice 2 (BBC Red Button)
04/07 – 09:55 to 11:05 – Practice 3 (BBC Two)
04/07 – 12:10 to 14:30 – Qualifying (BBC Two)
05/07 – 12:15 to 15:30 – Race (BBC One)
05/07 – 15:30 to 16:30 – Forum (BBC Red Button)

BBC Radio – Sessions
03/07 – 09:55 to 11:35 – Practice 1 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
04/07 – 09:55 to 11:00 – Practice 3 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
04/07 – 12:55 to 14:05 – Qualifying (BBC Radio 5 Live)
05/07 – 12:00 to 15:00 – Race (BBC Radio 5 Live)

Supplementary Programming
02/07 – 20:30 to 22:00 – Preview (BBC Radio 5 Live)
05/07 – 11:15 to 12:20 – F1 Rewind (BBC Two)
05/07 – 18:00 to 19:00 – Slicks-o-Six (BBC Radio 5 Live)

Sky Sports F1
Sessions
03/07 – 09:45 to 12:00 – Practice 1
03/07 – 13:45 to 16:00 – Practice 2
04/07 – 09:45 to 11:15 – Practice 3
04/07 – 12:00 to 14:35 – Qualifying (also Sky Sports 1)
05/07 – 11:30 to 16:15 – Race (also Sky Sports 1)
=> 11:30 – Track Parade
=> 12:00 – Pit Lane Live
=> 12:30 – Race
=> 15:30 – Paddock Live

Supplementary Programming
02/07 – 15:00 to 15:30 – Driver Press Conference
02/07 – 18:00 to 19:00 – The F1 Show (also Sky Sports 1)
02/07 – 19:00 to 20:00 – Tales from the Vault: Champions
02/07 – 21:00 to 21:15 – Paddock Uncut: Britain
03/07 – 17:00 to 17:45 – Team Press Conference
03/07 – 18:00 to 19:00 – The F1 Show (also Sky Sports 1)
08/07 – 20:30 to 21:00 – Midweek Report
09/07 – 20:00 to 21:00 – Formula Kart Stars

NEW Classic Races
01/07 – 21:00 to 23:30 – 1995 British Grand Prix

GP2 Series – Britain (Sky Sports F1)
03/07 – 12:00 to 12:50 – Practice
03/07 – 15:50 to 16:30 – Qualifying
04/07 – 14:35 to 16:05 – Race 1
05/07 – 09:15 to 10:30 – Race 2

GP3 Series – Britain (Sky Sports F1)
04/07 – 08:45 to 09:25 – Qualifying
04/07 – 16:15 to 17:15 – Race 1
05/07 – 08:20 to 09:05 – Race 2

As always, if anything changes, I will update the schedule.

Scheduling: The 2015 London ePrix

It has been eight months since the Beijing ePrix. Now, only a few days remain until the final leg of the inaugural Formula E season! The final weekend is actually a double header, comprising of rounds ten and eleven of the championship from Battersea Park in London. For the first time, ITV will be on location on both Saturday and Sunday, with Jennie Gow presenting from trackside alongside Marc Priestley, Alex Brundle and Jolyon Palmer.

Round ten of the championship takes place on the Saturday, with qualifying and the race being broadcast live on ITV4. Highlights will air late at night on ITV. The following day, in a Formula E first, round eleven will air exclusively live on ITV’s main channel, with four and a half hours of coverage. It is the first time since the 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix that motor sport has aired live on ITV(1).

The schedule that ITV are putting out that weekend is somewhat reminiscent of their Formula 1 coverage. ITV will go on air half an hour before the qualifying session, with 15 minutes of reaction and analysis, following the same structure that ITV F1’s qualifying shows had for many years in the early 2000s. The race itself has an hour build-up, again like ITV F1 with analysis following the show. When asked by this blog, ITV did not state whether Sunday’s race would feature commercials, noting that “commercial airtime will be taken in accordance with OFCOM regulations.” Given that Formula E races last around 45 minutes, I hope the Sunday race on ITV(1) does run commercial free, but time will tell.

What we also don’t know is whether the ITV network will broadcast season two of Formula E. ITV simply stated that “cannot yet comment on plans,” which suggests that discussions are ongoing, or that an announcement is currently under embargo. If they are screening season two, I’d expect an announcement by the end of the London ePrix weekend to capitalise on publicity. Unfortunately, viewing figures have not been great so far, in my opinion.

Aside from Formula E, there is the British Touring Car Championship on ITV4 along with the Goodwood Festival of Speed, airing live on Motors TV and Sky Sports. The IndyCar action is live on ESPN, whilst MotoGP is in Assen meaning that as usual the races are held on the Saturday.

Formula E – London – Races 1 and 2 (online via FIAFormulaE.com)
27/06 and 28/06 – 08:10 to 09:10 – Practice 1
27/06 and 28/06 – 10:25 to 11:10 – Practice 2

Formula E – London – Race 1
27/06 – 11:30 to 13:15 – Qualifying (ITV4)
27/06 – 15:00 to 17:30 – Race (ITV4)
27/06 – 22:55 to 23:55 – Highlights (ITV)

Formula E – London – Race 2 (ITV)
28/06 – 11:30 to 13:15 – Qualifying
28/06 – 15:00 to 17:45 – Race
28/06 – 22:15 to 23:15 – Highlights

British Touring Car Championship – Croft (ITV4)
28/06 – 11:00 to 18:15 – Races

Goodwood Festival of Speed (Motors TV)
27/06 – 13:00 to 19:00 – Day 1
28/06 – 09:00 to 15:00 – Day 2

Goodwood Festival of Speed (Sky Sports)
28/06 – 15:00 to 17:00 – Live (1 and F1)

IndyCar Series – Fontana (ESPN)
27/06 – 21:00 to 01:00 – Live

MotoGP – Assen (BT Sport 2)
25/06 – 08:00 to 15:00
=> 08:00 – Practice 1
=> 10:45 – Reaction and Build-Up
=> 12:00 – Practice 2
26/06 – 08:00 to 15:15
=> 08:00 – Practice 3
=> 11:00 – Qualifying
27/06 – 07:30 to 09:15 – Warm Up
27/06 – 09:30 to 21:00
=> 09:30 – Races
=> 14:00 – Chequered Flag

MotoGP – Assen (ITV4)
29/06 – 20:00 to 21:00 – Highlights

Lewis Hamilton on The Graham Norton Show (BBC One)
26/06 – 22:35 to 23:20

As always, if anything changes I will update the schedule.

Update on June 27th – For reasons unknown, Jolyon Palmer doesn’t appear to be with ITV’s Formula E team this weekend, instead of it Kyle Wilson-Clarke as the fourth man with them.

Update on June 28th – Turns out it was Wilson-Clarke on Saturday with Palmer today. Also, I didn’t note above that Andy Jaye is in pit lane for ITV.

Scheduling: The 2015 Austrian Grand Prix

The Formula 1 paddock heads back to Europe from Montreal to the Red Bull Ring for the Austrian Grand Prix! Unless, of course, your name is Nico Hulkenberg, in which case you head from a race-winning victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans back to the Grand Prix paddock.

Sky Sports F1 will be screening the weekend’s action live, although both qualifying and the race will be simulcast live on Sky Sports 1. The move is presumably an attempt to reach a wider audience in the off-season for football, although whether it actually works or not is another matter altogether. BBC have their usual highlights programming, the race highlights are on BBC One this year with no Summer sporting clashes to contend with.

I know it isn’t related to F1, but I hope both broadcasters give Porsche’s Le Mans victory, of which Hulkenberg was a part of, adequate coverage next weekend. In my opinion, winning the biggest endurance race in the world is a more significant achievement than the latest Mercedes victory in F1, and should be recognised as such. I’m not just saying that because F1 is being criticised at the moment, historically I’m sure many F1 drivers would happily trade an F1 victory for winning Le Mans. Plus, there are several related stories hanging off that about other drivers who wish to do Le Mans in the future. As noted a few days ago, next weekend also marks the terrestrial television première of Rush, which will be shown on Channel 4.

Below are all the scheduling details you need…

BBC F1
BBC One
20/06 – 17:30 to 18:45 – Qualifying Highlights
21/06 – 17:05 to 18:35 – Race Highlights

BBC News Channel
19/06 – 18:45 to 19:00 – Inside F1
20/06 – 18:45 to 19:00 – Inside F1

BBC Radio
19/06 – 08:55 to 10:35 – Practice 1 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
19/06 – 12:55 to 14:35 – Practice 2 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
19/06 – 21:00 to 22:00 – Preview (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
20/06 – 12:55 to 14:05 – Qualifying (BBC Radio 5 Live)
21/06 – 12:55 to 15:00 – Race (BBC Radio 5 Live)

Sky Sports F1
Sessions
19/06 – 08:45 to 11:00 – Practice 1
19/06 – 12:45 to 15:00 – Practice 2
20/06 – 09:45 to 11:15 – Practice 3
20/06 – 12:00 to 14:35 – Qualifying (also Sky Sports 1)
21/06 – 11:30 to 16:15 – Race (also Sky Sports 1)
=> 11:30 – Track Parade
=> 12:00 – Pit Lane Live
=> 12:30 – Race
=> 15:30 – Paddock Live

Supplementary Programming
18/06 – 14:00 to 14:30 – Driver Press Conference
18/06 – 20:45 to 21:00 – Paddock Uncut: Austria
19/06 – 16:00 to 16:45 – Team Press Conference
19/06 – 17:00 to 18:00 – The F1 Show
21/06 – 16:15 to 17:15 – Tales from the Vault: Family Dynasties
24/06 – 20:30 to 21:00 – Midweek Report

GP2 Series – Austria (Sky Sports F1)
19/06 – 11:00 to 11:50 – Practice
19/06 – 14:50 to 15:40 – Qualifying
20/06 – 14:35 to 16:05 – Race 1
21/06 – 09:30 to 10:45 – Race 2

GP3 Series – Austria (Sky Sports F1)
20/06 – 08:45 to 09:25 – Qualifying
20/06 – 16:15 to 17:15 – Race 1
21/06 – 08:20 to 09:20 – Race 2

FILM: Rush
20/06 – 21:00 to 23:25 (Channel 4)
22/06 – 21:00 to 23:25 (4seven)

As always, if anything changes, I will update the schedule.

Scheduling: The 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans

The greatest endurance race on earth takes place next weekend with the 24 Hours of Le Mans! British Eurosport have their usual extensive coverage which begins on Monday 8th June, covering practice, qualifying and the race itself. This is the only race in the World Endurance Championship season that Motors TV do not cover, with Eurosport screening the race exclusively live. Saying that, Quest TV, which like Eurosport is owned by Discovery Networks, will be covering the start and the end of the race live on their channel.

There is a half hour portion which Eurosport will not be covering live from 20:00 to 20:30 on the Saturday due to cycling highlights. As in previous years, Martin Haven leads Eurosport’s coverage, with a range of voices including Mark Shaw, Jeremy Shaw, Tom Gaymor and Liz Halliday also involved in their coverage. For those of you that watch overnight, you’ll be happy to hear that you are guaranteed a full service with the news that TV cameras will be active for the entire 24 hours.

Monday 8th June
20:00 to 20:30 – 24 Minutes (Eurosport)

Tuesday 9th June
21:55 to 22:30 – 24 Minutes (Eurosport)

Wednesday 10th June
15:00 to 19:00 – Live Practice (Eurosport 2)
20:30 to 21:00 – Live 24 Minutes (Eurosport)
21:00 to 23:00 – Live Qualifying 1 (Eurosport)

Thursday 11th June
18:00 to 20:15 – Live Qualifying 2 (Eurosport)
20:15 to 20:45 – Live 24 Minutes (Eurosport)
20:45 to 23:00 – Live Qualifying 3 (Eurosport)

Friday 12th June
21:15 to 21:45 – 24 Minutes (Eurosport 2)

Saturday 13th June
07:45 to 08:45 – Live Warm Up (Eurosport)
08:45 to 09:45 – Live Legends Race (Eurosport)
13:15 to 13:45 – Live 24 Minutes (Eurosport)
20:00 to 20:30 – Live 24 Minutes (Eurosport)
– for details of the race itself, see below

Sunday 14th June
07:30 to 08:00 – Live 24 Minutes (Eurosport)
14:15 to 14:45 – Live 24 Minutes (Eurosport)

The race itself beginning on the Saturday…
13:30 to 15:30 – Quest TV
13:45 to 20:00 – Eurosport
20:30 to 07:30 – Eurosport
21:00 to 22:00 – Quest TV [Highlights]
07:00 to 08:00 – Quest TV [Highlights]
07:30 to 08:00 – Eurosport 2
08:00 to 14:15 – Eurosport
13:00 to 14:30 – Quest TV

As always, if anything changes, I will update the schedule.

Scheduling: The 2015 Canadian Grand Prix / Moscow ePrix

Formula 1 heads to North America for its annual June stop in Montreal for the Canadian Grand Prix! Both BBC and Sky Sports will be covering the action live over the weekend.

Elsewhere, on ITV, it is a congested line-up with the UEFA Champions League Final (for the last time live on ITV before it heads to BT Sport), England vs Ireland in a football friendly and the French Open Finals. What that means is that the BTCC action on ITV4 on Sunday 7th June is split into two shows, with the French Open airing on ITV4 whilst ITV covers the friendly. I assume BTCC will be on ITV.com from 13:30 to 15:15 on the Sunday, but I haven’t seen that confirmed.

Formula E is also racing next weekend from Moscow, however qualifying will not be broadcast on ITV4 as was the case for Monaco and Berlin. It will be interesting to see if it returns for London’s races. Below are all the scheduling details you need…

BBC F1
BBC TV – Sessions
05/06 – 14:45 to 16:45 – Practice 1 (BBC Two)
05/06 – 19:00 to 20:35 – Practice 2 (BBC Three)
06/06 – 14:55 to 16:00 – Practice 3 (BBC Two)
06/06 – 17:00 to 19:15 – Qualifying (BBC One)
07/06 – 18:25 to 21:00 – Race (BBC One)
07/06 – 21:00 to 22:00 – Forum (BBC Red Button)

BBC Radio – Sessions
05/06 – 14:55 to 16:35 – Practice 1 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
06/06 – 14:55 to 16:05 – Practice 3 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
06/06 – 17:55 to 19:05 – Qualifying (BBC Radio 5 Live)
07/06 – 18:30 to 21:00 – Race (BBC Radio 5 Live)

Supplementary Programming
05/06 – 21:30 to 22:00 – Preview (BBC Radio 5 Live)
06/06 – 16:00 to 17:00 – F1 Rewind (BBC Two)

Sky Sports F1
Sessions
05/06 – 14:45 to 16:50 – Practice 1
05/06 – 18:45 to 21:00 – Practice 2
06/06 – 14:45 to 16:15 – Practice 3
06/06 – 17:00 to 19:45 – Qualifying
07/06 – 17:30 to 22:15 – Race
=> 17:30 – Track Parade
=> 18:00 – Pit Lane Live (also Sky Sports 1)
=> 18:30 – Race (also Sky Sports 1)
=> 21:30 – Paddock Live

Supplementary Programming
04/06 – 16:00 to 16:30 – Driver Press Conference
04/06 – 20:45 to 21:00 – Paddock Uncut: Canada
05/06 – 21:00 to 21:45 – Team Press Conference
05/06 – 23:00 to 00:00 – The F1 Show
10/06 – 20:30 to 21:00 – Midweek Report

Formula E – Moscow (online via FIAFormulaE.com)
06/06 – 06:10 to 07:10 – Practice 1
06/06 – 08:25 to 09:10 – Practice 2
06/06 – 09:45 to 11:10 – Qualifying

Formula E – Moscow (ITV4)
06/06 – 13:00 to 15:30 – Race
07/06 – 10:10 to 11:15 – Highlights

BTCC – Oulton Park (ITV4)
07/06 – 11:15 to 13:30 – Part 1
07/06 – 15:15 to 18:30 – Part 2

IndyCar Series – Texas (BT Sport 2)
07/06 – 01:00 to 04:00 – Race

As always, if anything changes, I’ll update the schedule.