Scheduling: The 2016 Hungarian Grand Prix

The Hungarian Grand Prix marks the half way stage of the 2016 Formula One season as the championship edges closer to its Summer break. Typically, Hungary is the race to lead F1 into the Summer, but this year the Hungaroring forms a back-to-back with the German Grand Prix one week later.

Channel 4 will again be live throughout the weekend, Hungary marking their fifth live round this year. In a late schedule change, their race day broadcast will now finish at 15:45, not 15:30 as originally billed. Elsewhere, BBC’s radio coverage is largely depleted due to Test Match cricket coverage on 5 Live Sports Extra. And outside of the Formula 1 world, BT Sport 2 will be airing live coverage of the World Endurance Championship for the first time ever. It is assumed that BT will be airing it in the eventuality that Motors TV failed to return to the air. Who will be commentating on BT’s coverage is not yet clear.

BT Sport are also airing a feast of motor sport from Silverstone. The BT team will be on-site led by former MotoGP presenter Abi Griffiths, with the usual faces of Ben Evans and Keith Collantine also featuring. Saturday’s coverage airs from 12:30 to 17:00 on BT Sport//ESPN and then 12:30 to 17:00 on BT Sport Europe on Sunday.

Below are all the details you need in what is a fairly packed schedule…

Channel 4 F1
Sessions
22/07 – 08:55 to 10:40 – Practice 1
22/07 – 12:55 to 14:40 – Practice 2
23/07 – 09:55 to 11:25 – Practice 3
23/07 – 11:55 to 14:30 – Qualifying
24/07 – 12:00 to 15:45 – Race
24/07 – 23:45 to 00:45 – Highlights

Sky Sports F1
Sessions
22/07 – 08:45 to 11:00 – Practice 1
22/07 – 12:45 to 14:55 – Practice 2
23/07 – 09:45 to 11:15 – Practice 3
23/07 – 12:00 to 14:35 – Qualifying (also Sky Sports 1)
24/07 – 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
20/07 – 20:30 to 21:00 – F1 Report: Preview
21/07 – 14:00 to 14:30 – Driver Press Conference
21/07 – 20:45 to 21:00 – Paddock Uncut
22/07 – 15:30 to 16:00 – Team Press Conference
22/07 – 16:00 to 16:30 – The F1 Show
27/07 – 20:30 to 21:00 – F1 Report: Review

BBC Radio F1
21/07 – 21:00 to 22:00 – Preview (BBC Radio 5 Live)
24/07 – 13:00 to 15:00 – Race (BBC Radio 5 Live)

British Superbikes – Thruxton
23/07 – 14:00 to 16:00 – Qualifying (Eurosport 2)
24/07 – 12:30 to 18:00 – Races (Eurosport 2)
27/07 – 20:00 to 21:00 – Highlights (ITV4)

Euroformula – Silverstone
23/07 – Race 1
=> 14:00 to 15:00 (BT Sport//ESPN)
=> 14:05 to 15:00 (Motors TV)
24/07 – Race 2
=> 14:15 to 15:15 (BT Sport Europe)

Formula V8 3.5 – Silverstone
23/07 – 12:30 to 14:00 – Race 1 (BT Sport//ESPN)
24/07 – 12:30 to 14:15 – Race 2 (BT Sport Europe)

GP2 Series – Hungary (Sky Sports F1)
22/07 – 11:00 to 11:50 – Practice
22/07 – 14:55 to 15:30 – Qualifying (also Sky Sports 1)
23/07 – 14:35 to 16:05 – Race 1
24/07 – 09:20 to 10:35 – Race 2

GP3 Series – Hungary (Sky Sports F1)
23/07 – 08:45 to 09:20 – Qualifying
23/07 – 16:15 to 17:15 – Race 1
24/07 – 08:10 to 09:10 – Race 2

International GT Open – Silverstone
23/07 – Race 1
=> 15:00 to 16:50 (Motors TV)
=> 15:00 to 17:00 (BT Sport//ESPN)
24/07 – Race 2
=> 15:15 to 17:00 (BT Sport Europe)

Porsche Supercup – Hungary (Eurosport 2)
24/07 – 10:30 to 11:15 – Race

Virgin Australia Supercars – Ipswich
23/07 – 07:00 to 08:15 – Race 16 (BT Sport 1)
24/07 – 04:45 to 06:45 – Race 17 (BT Sport 2)

World Endurance Championship – Nurburgring
24/07 – 11:30 to 18:10 – Race (Motors TV)
24/07 – 11:30 to 18:30 – Race (BT Sport 2)
24/07 – 18:00 to 19:15 – Race (Eurosport 2)

Updated on July 21st to reflect Channel 4’s extended race day programme. Updated again on July 24th, swap of channels for BT Sport’s Sunday shows.

Scheduling: The 2016 British Grand Prix

This weekend, Formula 1 comes home for the British Grand Prix! The Silverstone circuit plays host to round ten of 21 in the 2016 season. As is normally the case in the era of ‘split broadcasters’, the free-to-air broadcaster will be screening the race live… whether we will still have that to the same degree and reach in 2019, we don’t yet know.

Channel 4’s coverage on Sunday clocks in at four hours long, their longest race day show yet. You would have to go back to the mid-1990s to find a British Grand Prix programme that long, although of course the BBC in 2010 and 2011 were on air from 12:10 to around 16:45 (including their Red Button forum show).

Disappointingly, there is no spin-off programming to the weekend that helps cross-promote F1 to Channel 4’s other shows. This was mooted pre-season but has not come to fruition. Sunday Brunch is being billed though as a “Grand Prix show” with some F1 features.

There is also an one-hour special originally shown in 2012 focussing on Nic Hamilton, which will be broadcast on Saturday morning. On-site, Channel 4 will have an extended team with Eddie Jordan, Mark Webber and Susie Wolff all present alongside their usual line-up. Murray Walker has filmed a VT to be shown during the weekend as he is unable to attend in person. Elsewhere, the Speedway Grand Prix comes to the UK and Suzi Perry will be presenting BT Sport’s live coverage.

Channel 4 F1
Sessions
08/07 – 09:55 to 11:40 – Practice 1
08/07 – 13:55 to 15:35 – Practice 2
09/07 – 09:55 to 11:20 – Practice 3
09/07 – 11:55 to 14:30 – Qualifying
10/07 – 12:00 to 16:00 – Race
10/07 – 23:05 to 00:10 – Highlights

Supplementary Programming
09/07 – 06:55 to 07:55 – Nic Hamilton’s Racing Dream
10/07 – 09:00 to 12:00 – Sunday Brunch: Grand Prix show

Sky Sports F1
Sessions
08/07 – 09:45 to 12:00 – Practice 1
08/07 – 13:45 to 15:55 – Practice 2 (also Sky Sports 1)
09/07 – 09:45 to 11:15 – Practice 3
09/07 – 12:00 to 14:35 – Qualifying (also Sky Sports 1)
10/07 – 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
07/07 – 15:00 to 15:30 – Driver Press Conference
07/07 – 18:00 to 19:00 – The F1 Show: British Special (also Sky Sports 1)
07/07 – 20:45 to 21:00 – Paddock Uncut
08/07 – 16:30 to 17:00 – Team Press Conference (also Sky Sports 1)
08/07 – 17:00 to 17:30 – The F1 Show (also Sky Sports 1)
13/07 – 20:30 to 21:00 – F1 Report: Review

BBC Radio F1
08/07 – 09:55 to 11:35 – Practice 1 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
08/07 – 13:55 to 15:35 – Practice 2 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
08/07 – 20:00 to 21:00 – Preview (BBC Radio 5 Live)
09/07 – 09:55 to 11:05 – Practice 3 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
09/07 – 12:55 to 14:05 – Qualifying (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
10/07 – 12:30 to 15:30 – Race (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)

British Superbikes – Snetterton
09/07 – 16:00 to 18:00 – Qualifying (Eurosport 2 and Quest)
10/07 – 12:30 to 13:45 – Race 1 (Eurosport 2)
10/07 – 12:30 to 18:00 – Races (Quest)
13/07 – 21:00 to 22:00 – Highlights (ITV4)

GP2 Series – Britain (Sky Sports F1)
08/07 – 12:00 to 12:50 – Practice
08/07 – 15:55 to 16:30 – Qualifying (also Sky Sports 1)
09/07 – 14:40 to 16:10 – Race 1
10/07 – 09:25 to 10:40 – Race 2

GP3 Series – Britain (Sky Sports F1)
09/07 – 08:45 to 09:20 – Qualifying
09/07 – 16:20 to 17:20 – Race 1
10/07 – 08:15 to 09:15 – Race 2

IndyCar Series – Iowa Corn 300 (BT Sport//ESPN)
10/07 – 22:30 to 01:00 – Race

Porsche Supercup – Britain (Eurosport 2)
10/07 – 10:45 to 11:30 – Race

Speedway Grand Prix – Britain (BT Sport 1)
09/07 – 16:30 to 20:30 – Races

Virgin Australia Supercars – Townsville (BT Sport 2)
09/07 – 07:00 to 08:45 – Race 14
10/07 – 07:00 to 08:45 – Race 15

World Superbikes – Laguna Seca (British Eurosport 2)
09/07 – 19:15 to 20:30 – Superpole
09/07 – 22:15 to 23:30 – Race 1
10/07 – 22:15 to 23:30 – Race 2

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

Updated on July 8th to reflect Murray Walker’s status.

Scheduling: The 2016 Austrian Grand Prix

The 2016 Formula One season continues as the championship heads firmly to the European heartland for the Austrian Grand Prix.

It is the third year back on the calendar for the Red Bull Ring, all three years have been broadcast exclusively live on Sky Sports. Martin Brundle and Anthony Davidson are back with Sky this weekend after their 24 Hours of Le Mans absence. Over on Channel 4, Lee McKenzie is not with the team due to her BBC commitments with Wimbledon, however she will be appearing as a guest on Sunday Brunch at 09:30 on Sunday morning. Holly Samos, who is a name former listeners to BBC’s 5 Live F1 coverage may recognise, will be covering for McKenzie this weekend.

Things look a bit different for BBC’s radio team as well. With the Austrian Grand Prix clashing with the Formula E season finale, neither Jack Nicholls or Jennie Gow will be part of BBC’s team. Tom Clarkson, Allan McNish and 5 Live sports reporter Claire Cottingham will be covering duties. All the schedule details as usual are listed below and, for the London ePrix schedule, head over here…

Channel 4 F1
Sessions
02/07 – 17:30 to 19:00 – Qualifying Highlights
03/07 – 18:00 to 20:00 – Race Highlights

Sky Sports F1
Sessions
01/07 – 08:45 to 11:00 – Practice 1
01/07 – 12:45 to 14:55 – Practice 2
02/07 – 09:45 to 11:15 – Practice 3
02/07 – 12:00 to 14:35 – Qualifying (also Sky Sports 1)
03/07 – 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
29/06 – 20:30 to 21:00 – F1 Report: Preview
30/06 – 14:00 to 14:30 – Driver Press Conference
30/06 – 20:45 to 21:00 – Paddock Uncut
01/07 – 15:30 to 16:00 – Team Press Conference
01/07 – 16:00 to 16:30 – The F1 Show

BBC Radio F1
01/07 – 08:55 to 10:35 – Practice 1 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
01/07 – 12:55 to 14:35 – Practice 2 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
03/07 – 13:00 to 15:00 – Race (BBC Radio 5 Live)

Blancpain Sprint Series – Nurburgring (BT Sport 2)
03/07 – 13:00 to 15:00 – Race

FIM CEV Repsol – Albacete (BT Sport Europe)
03/07 – 09:45 to 14:00 – Races

GP2 Series – Austria (Sky Sports F1)
01/07 – 11:00 to 11:50 – Practice
01/07 – 14:55 to 15:30 – Qualifying
02/07 – 14:35 to 16:05 – Race 1 (also Sky Sports 1)
03/07 – 09:25 to 10:40 – Race 2

GP3 Series – Austria (Sky Sports F1)
02/07 – 08:45 to 09:20 – Qualifying
02/07 – 16:10 to 17:10 – Race 1
03/07 – 08:15 to 09:15 – Race 2

Porsche Supercup – Austria (Eurosport)
03/07 – 10:30 to 11:20 – Race

TCR International Series – Russia (Motors TV)
03/07 – 10:25 to 11:45 – Race

World Rally Championship – Poland
30/06 – 18:00 to 19:00 – Stage 1 Live (BT Sport Europe)
01/07 – Day 1 Highlights
=> 22:00 to 22:30 (BT Sport 1)
=> 22:35 to 23:05 (Motors TV)
02/07 – Day 2 Highlights
=> 22:00 to 22:30 (BT Sport 1)
=> 22:35 to 23:05 (Motors TV)
03/07 – 08:00 to 09:00 – Stage 2 Live (BT Sport 1)
03/07 – 11:00 to 12:00 – Stage 3 Live (BT Sport 2)
03/07 – Day 3 Highlights
=> 22:00 to 22:30 (BT Sport 1)
=> 22:35 to 23:05 (Motors TV)
04/07 – 19:00 to 20:00 – Highlights (Channel 5)

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

Last updated on June 30th, to add information about Claire Cottingham and Holly Samos.

News round-up: BT continue IndyCar experiments; Perry confirms commitments for rest of ’16

In the last round-up covering the smaller pieces of news from the past few months, BT Sport is the main player experimenting with their portfolio as we head into the Summer.

BT Sport take IndyCar commentary in-house
I have watched a fair bit of IndyCar this season thanks to its exciting, close racing. Whilst the racing has been good the ABC commentary, led by Allen Bestwick, Eddie Cheever and Scott Goodyear, has not. Watching the Duel in Detroit last weekend, at times the trio ‘zapped’ the excitement out of races, almost as if they were dialling in from elsewhere. The broadcasting rights in America are shared between ABC and NBC and, because of the agreement in place, the remainder of the season is covered by NBC.

NBC’s commentary is superior to ABC’s offering, primarily thanks to Leigh Diffey commentary. Over in the UK, BT Sport take the American commentary feed, that is… until now. For IndyCar’s return to Road America on June 26th, commentary will be provided in-house by BT Sport, with Keith Collantine and Ben Evans leading the way. At the moment, this is just for Road America as a trial run, with the potential for the idea to turn full-time. I can see the logic behind it. At times the US commentary feels like an ‘info commercial’ in and out of the advert breaks, whereas the UK commentary will be without any interruptions.

To the outside world, the tweaks BT are making to their IndyCar coverage are very small but go a long, long way to the dedicated viewer, although the direction has been haphazard with yo-yoing in the past few years. Viewing figures for the Indianapolis 500 were slightly lower than previous years with an average of 12k (0.09%) from 15:30 to 21:00, peaking with 31k (0.16%) on BT Sport 1.

On the subject of BT Sport, for those wondering, Suzi Perry confirmed her exact commitments for the remainder of this season on her Instagram page. Perry said that she will (or has already) work on seven MotoGP races, two speedway events and Rally GB. Perry’s original commitment for the Indianapolis 500 fell through after a change of direction.

Sky’s F1 partnership with Brunswick Films continues
Sky Sports are continuing their partnership with Brunswick Films with a series of four films airing during the race day programming focussing on James Hunt. The first piece aired during the Canadian Grand Prix weekend. The remaining pieces will air during the Silverstone, Monza and Texas weekends. Rohan Tully, Brunswick Films director, said “They used to film anti-clockwise moving slowly around the track so they would get every corner. They would also have to walk with the cameras most of the time because some of the tracks didn’t even have running tracks around back in the day. So to get the footage at the time, comprehensively, was a struggle in itself.”

It is brilliant to see footage like this. However, as is always the case, it would have been good to have this as well in a standalone programme. The amount of new documentary programming that has aired on Sky Sports F1 this year stands at zero, which is incredibly disappointing for a network that will be broadcasting Formula 1 into the next decade. It would be good to have some new programming turn up, but I do not see it happening.

Is Formula E endangered in the UK?
The absence of a London ePrix in the provisional Formula E calendar for the 2016-17 season will have raised alarm bells about the future of the series in the United Kingdom. With viewing figures dropping compared to the inaugural season, the question is whether ITV will renew for season three. The incentive of screening season three decreases if London remains absent. The highest peak audience for a live race in season two remains Buenos Aires, which peaked with 248k (1.2%) back in January.

In their current state, the numbers are simply not good enough for either ITV(1) or ITV4, whichever slot you place Formula E in, the programme loses viewers hand over fist compared to the slot average. Failure to find a free-to-air home means that Formula E is essentially dead in the UK. I’m certain BT Sport or Eurosport will pick it up, but any potential for growth will have evaporated. Their best hope for keeping ITV will be letting them have it for free.

Scheduling: The 2016 European Grand Prix

After a quick dash over to North America, Formula 1 heads back over to the East for the first ever race in Azerbaijan! Badged as the European Grand Prix, the race takes place on a street circuit in Baku.

The sporting opposition this weekend consists of four events: the Royal Ascot, Tennis from Queen’s, Euro 2016 and the 24 Hours of Le Mans (schedule here). The qualifying session clashes with Belgium vs Republic of Ireland; however, Sunday thankfully has no football clash. Of course, as widely publicised, the qualifying session will also clash with the first hour of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The race itself will clash with the chequered flag of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It is the first time Le Mans has clashed with the F1 since 2011, which is a nonsense scenario that hopefully will not be repeated in the foreseeable future. Elsewhere, Channel 4’s coverage of practice two moves to More4 due to coverage of the Royal Ascot.

On the personnel front, the big news is that Martin Brundle will not be present again with Sky’s Formula 1 team in Baku due to his participation in the famous endurance race. Originally, Brundle was only set to miss Baku, but this was extended to cover Canada as a result of a “medical procedure” that Brundle had following the Monaco Grand Prix. Paul di Resta is again alongside David Croft in the commentary box in Baku.

Over on Channel 4, Eddie Jordan returns to F1 broadcasting, his first live appearance with the channel since they took over from BBC at the end of 2015.

Channel 4 F1
Sessions
17/06 – 09:55 to 11:35 – Practice 1 (Channel 4)
17/06 – 13:55 to 15:35 – Practice 2 (More4)
18/06 – 10:55 to 12:05 – Practice 3 (Channel 4)
18/06 – 13:00 to 15:20 – Qualifying (Channel 4)
19/06– 13:00 to 16:30 – Race (Channel 4)
19/06 – 23:25 to 00:30 – Highlights (Channel 4)

Sky Sports F1
Sessions
17/06 – 09:45 to 11:50 – Practice 1
17/06 – 13:45 to 16:00 – Practice 2
18/06 – 10:45 to 12:15 – Practice 3
18/06 – 13:00 to 15:45 – Qualifying
19/06 – 12:30 to 17:15 – Race
=> 12:30 – Track Parade (also Sky Sports 1)
=> 13:00 – Pit Lane Live (also Sky Sports 1)
=> 13:30 – Race (also Sky Sports 1 – until 16:00 only)
=> 16:30 – Paddock Live

Supplementary Programming
16/06 – 12:00 to 12:30 – Driver Press Conference
16/06 – 20:45 to 21:00 – Paddock Uncut
17/06 – 16:00 to 16:30 – Team Press Conference
17/06 – 16:30 to 17:00 – The F1 Show
22/06 – 20:30 to 21:00 – F1 Report: Review

BBC Radio F1
17/06 – 09:55 to 11:35 – Practice 1 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
18/06 – 10:55 to 12:05 – Practice 3 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
18/06 – 13:55 to 15:05 – Qualifying (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
19/06 – 14:00 to 16:00 – Race (BBC Radio 5 Live)

British Touring Car Championship – Croft (ITV4)
19/06 – 11:00 to 18:15 – Races

GP2 Series – Europe (Sky Sports F1)
17/06 – 08:00 to 08:50 – Practice
17/06 – 11:50 to 12:30 – Qualifying
18/06 – 09:00 to 10:30 – Race 1
19/06 – 10:55 to 12:10 – Race 2

Virgin Australia Supercars – Darwin Triple Crown (BT Sport 1)
18/06 – 07:15 to 09:00 – Race 12
19/06 – 04:30 to 06:45 – Race 13

World Superbikes –Misano
18/06 – 09:15 to 13:15 – Qualifying and Race 1 (Eurosport)
19/06 – 10:00 to 13:15 – Race 2 (Eurosport 2)

Last updated on June 18th, to reflect Sky Sports 1 also covering the Track Parade and Pit Lane Live.