The 2013 Formula One calendar has been revised today (December 5th). New Jersey, which was meant to be replacing Valencia has been dropped with ‘a European round’ on July 21st. The calendar is therefore as follows:
March 17th – Australia (Melbourne)
March 24th – Malaysia (Sepang)
April 14st – China (Shanghai)
April 21st – Bahrain (Sakhir)
May 12th – Spain (Barcelona)
May 26th – Monaco (Monte Carlo)
June 9th – Canada (Montreal)
June 30th – Britain (Silverstone)
July 7th – Germany (Nurburgring)
July 21st – ‘a European round’
July 28th – Hungary (Hungaroring)
August 25th – Belgium (Spa)
September 8th – Italy (Monza)
September 22nd – Singapore (Marina Bay)
October 6th – Korea (Yeongam)
October 13th – Japan (Suzuka)
October 27th – India (Buddh International Circuit)
November 3rd – Abu Dhabi (Yas Marina)
November 17th – United States (Austin)
November 24th – Brazil (Interlagos)
The European round on July 21st is subject to confirmation but the rest is confirmed. Because of the way the BBC and Sky deal works, both sides have to ‘pick’ races. The races that BBC pick will be shown live on BBC One and Sky Sports F1, while the races that Sky pick will be shown exclusively live on Sky Sports F1, with highlights on BBC One. The picks go as follows:
– BBC pick three races (pick 1, 2 and 3)
– Sky pick three races (pick 4, 5 and 6)
– BBC pick one race (pick 7)
– Sky pick one race (pick 8)
This continues until every race has been picked. Next season is provisionally scheduled with twenty races, but if it was a odd race season, then Sky get the deciding pick, so that they have either half of the total number of races, or “half + 1 race”. Basically here, I’m predicting how the pick orders will go. You’re probably thinking “surely it will be the same as last year, just replacing Valencia with ‘a European round’? I don’t think so. Firstly, because there are no major sporting events in the Summer that clash with Formula 1, which may influence the pick orders. And secondly, if we remained with the same picks as last year, then BBC would not be screening any races for nearly two months, which may be a situation they wish to avoid. This year it was not so bad because they had the Olympics, but there is no Olympics next year for them.
So in effect, I’m going to rip up last year’s pick order and start from scratch.
BBC pick Britain, Monaco and Brazil – Which are presumably the same three first picks as this year. Monaco and Brazil are both the blue ribbon events, the latter again the season finale and potential title decider. Britain is obviously the first pick. Interestingly, it falls on the ‘middle Sunday’ of Wimbledon, which may be the reason why it is in June and not July, to avoid a clash with the Wimbledon final. So the British Grand Prix should be on BBC One next year and not BBC Two as it was this year.
Sky pick Canada, United States and ??? – This is where things get interesting. Sky pick Canada and United States as with this year. But their third pick? For me, it is a toss up between Melbourne and New Jersey in June. From Sky’s perspective, Melbourne is the unfriendliest slot of the entire twenty races, but it is also the season opener. Is it as important for them next year as it is this year? This year they were starting their coverage for the first time, so arguably getting Australia was more important than ever before. Is next year as important? I don’t think so. Plus, with no football competition in June, Canada and New Jersey surely will bring Sky Sports F1 the channel’s highest ever peaks. Whilst Canada’s overall viewing figures were very poor, Sky Sports F1’s highest peak so far also came from that race.
Therefore Sky pick America. As Sky did not pick Australia, that inevitably means BBC pick Australia, potentially even luring viewers into a false sense of security that every race of the season is back on BBC as the season opener is. In any case, as with this year, Sky pick Malaysia.
Okay, the above does not look pretty, but I wanted to keep it there for future reference, so have struck it off. As I noted above. Sky pick Canada, United States and ??? – Had New Jersey been on the calendar, they would have had a choice between that and Australia. But as New Jersey is not on the calendar, Sky will go for the season opener, meaning that it would be exclusively on Sky again. Therefore Sky pick Australia, BBC pick Malaysia and Sky pick China.
Attention at this point I think would move back to the European season with the pick order as follows:
March 17th – Australia (Melbourne) – Sky
March 24th – Malaysia (Sepang) – BBC
April 14st – China (Shanghai) – Sky
April 21st – Bahrain (Sakhir)
May 12th – Spain (Barcelona)
May 26th – Monaco (Monte Carlo) – BBC
June 9th – Canada (Montreal) – Sky
June 30th – Britain (Silverstone) – BBC
July 14th – Germany (Nurburgring)
July 21st – ‘a European round’
July 28th – Hungary (Hungaroring)
August 25th – Belgium (Spa)
September 8th – Italy (Monza)
September 22nd – Singapore (Marina Bay)
October 6th – Korea (Yeongam)
October 13th – Japan (Suzuka)
October 27th – India (Buddh International Circuit)
November 3rd – Abu Dhabi (Yas Marina)
November 17th – United States (Austin) – Sky
November 24th – Brazil (Interlagos) – BBC
Logically, BBC pick Belgium and Sky pick Italy so that BBC get another blue ribbond event. Unlike in previous year’s, where Germany and Hungary were late in the pick line with BBC not having either event live due to the Olympics, I anticipate that both events will be wanted this time around. With that in mind, I can see BBC picking Hungary and Sky picking Germany. It also means that BBC viewers do not go nearly two months without seeing a live Formula 1 race on the BBC, which would have broken the season up massively. From this point, I think picks would essentially ‘transcend’ up the calendar alternatively. So we have BBC pick Abu Dhabi, Sky pick India, BBC pick Japan, Sky pick Korea, BBC pick Singapore.
Which means, we are left with this:
March 17th – Australia (Melbourne) – Sky
March 24th – Malaysia (Sepang) – BBC
April 14st – China (Shanghai) – Sky
April 21st – Bahrain (Sakhir)
May 12th – Spain (Barcelona)
May 26th – Monaco (Monte Carlo) – BBC
June 9th – Canada (Montreal) – Sky
June 30th – Britain (Silverstone) – BBC
July 14th – Germany (Nurburgring) – Sky
July 21st – ‘a European round’
July 28th – Hungary (Hungaroring) – BBC
August 25th – Belgium (Spa) – BBC
September 8th – Italy (Monza) – Sky
September 22nd – Singapore (Marina Bay) – BBC
October 6th – Korea (Yeongam) – Sky
October 13th – Japan (Suzuka) – BBC
October 27th – India (Buddh International Circuit) – Sky
November 3rd – Abu Dhabi (Yas Marina) – BBC
November 17th – United States (Austin) – Sky
November 24th – Brazil (Interlagos) – BBC
The remaining races are therefore Bahrain, Spain and ‘a European round’. Spain falls on the penultimate weekend of the Premier League season, therefore I don’t believe Sky would want this race exclusively. Therefore Sky pick Bahrain. From a timezone standpoint and commercial stand-point, Spain however is better for Sky than China, meaning BBC pick China and Sky pick Spain. The timezone and commercial reason does not exist anymore, instead it is a matter of which race exists and which one may not exist. Therefore BBC pick Spain and Sky pick ‘a European round’.
Which leaves the final calendar as follows:
March 17th – Australia (Melbourne) – Sky
March 24th – Malaysia (Sepang) – BBC
April 14st – China (Shanghai) – Sky
April 21st – Bahrain (Sakhir) – Sky
May 12th – Spain (Barcelona) – BBC
May 26th – Monaco (Monte Carlo) – BBC
June 9th – Canada (Montreal) – Sky
June 30th – Britain (Silverstone) – BBC
July 14th – Germany (Nurburgring) – Sky
July 21st – ‘a European round’ – Sky
July 28th – Hungary (Hungaroring) – BBC
August 25th – Belgium (Spa) – BBC
September 8th – Italy (Monza) – Sky
September 22nd – Singapore (Marina Bay) – BBC
October 6th – Korea (Yeongam) – Sky
October 13th – Japan (Suzuka) – BBC
October 27th – India (Buddh International Circuit) – Sky
November 3rd – Abu Dhabi (Yas Marina) – BBC
November 17th – United States (Austin) – Sky
November 24th – Brazil (Interlagos) – BBC
If ‘a European round’ disappears, then BBC lose Hungary live. Unfortunately, that would mean a two month gap between two live races, but there is little workaround, it is either lose Hungary and Belgium, and Hungary would be the race you prefer to lose. That is how I anticipate the picks will shape up.
Updated on December 5th, 2012.
Motorsport Broadcasting 