Scheduling: The 2018 24 Hours of Le Mans

The famous endurance race returns, it is time for the 24 Hours of Le Mans!

Forming part of the 2018-19 World Endurance Championship season, the race airs live across Discovery Network’s portfolio of channels. The complete race airs live on Eurosport, with supplementary live coverage also airing on Quest TV, as has been the case for the past four years, helping Le Mans reach a wider audience. However, ITV4’s coverage does not return this year.

Eurosport are upping the ante, with what they are claiming is to be their biggest Le Mans production to date. Jennie Gow switches from Formula 1 to endurance racing, joining the Eurosport team in pit lane alongside Sam Hancock.

It is a different feel to the Eurosport line-up this year, with one of their staple figures, Martin Haven moving to WEC’s in-house team. Carlton Kirby and Mark Cole lead Eurosport’s commentary, joined by Le Mans winners Eric Hilary, Benoit Treluyer, Henri Pescarolo, and Tom Kristensen.

Outside of the traditional television spectrum, qualifying and the race airs live via WEC’s app for £8.99. Alongside Haven are WEC regulars Toby Moody and Allan McNish, joined by Karun Chandhok, Peter Dumbreck, and Julian Porter.

Wednesday 13th June (Eurosport)
15:00 to 19:10 – Practice
20:45 to 23:10
=> 20:45 – Extra
=> 21:00 – Qualifying 1

Thursday 14th June (Eurosport)
17:45 to 23:10
=> 17:45 – Extra
=> 18:00 – Qualifying 2
=> 20:15 – Extra
=> 21:00 – Qualifying 3

Saturday 16th June
08:00 to 09:00 – Warm Up (Eurosport)
12:00 to 23:59 (Eurosport)
=> 12:00 – Build-Up
=> 12:45 – Legends of Le Mans Highlights
=> 13:00 – On the Grid with Tom Kristensen
=> 13:45 – Race
13:30 to 15:00 – Race Start (Quest TV)
22:00 to 23:00 – Saturday Evening (Quest TV)

Sunday 17th June
00:00 to 14:35 (Eurosport)
=> 00:00 – Race
=> 08:00 – Highlights of the Night
=> 14:15 – Extra
10:00 to 14:30 – Race Conclusion (Quest TV)

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

Scheduling: The 2018 Canadian Grand Prix / Zurich E-Prix

Formula 1 heads across the ocean to North America for its annual June trip: the Canadian Grand Prix!

The race airs exclusively live on Sky Sports, with late night highlights the order of the day for Channel 4.

Lee McKenzie continues to wind down her Formula 1 commitments and focus on other sports, this time presenting rugby for Channel 4. McKenzie is missing several races this Summer with Wimbledon also on the agenda.

Elsewhere, Formula E heads to Switzerland for the very first time, as racing returns to the country for the first time since 1954. Note that the race takes place on Sunday evening, clashing with the first part of Sky’s build-up for the Canadian Grand Prix.

The BBC is airing a documentary looking at the electric series on its news channel on Friday evening called Driving Change. Part of a wider strand of programming from Radio 1’s Newsbeat team, the documentary looks at how Formula E is helping people make the shift to electric cars.

With Jack Nicholls on Formula E duty, Alex Jacques steps back into Nicholls’ shoes as BBC’s 5 Live F1 lead commentator.

Channel 4 F1
Sessions
09/06 – 22:55 to 00:25 – Qualifying Highlights
10/06 – 22:40 to 00:40 – Race Highlights

Sky Sports F1
Sessions
08/06 – 14:30 to 16:50 – Practice 1 (also Sky Sports Main Event)
08/06 – 18:45 to 20:50 – Practice 2
09/06 – 15:45 to 17:15 – Practice 3
09/06 – 18:00 to 20:35 – Qualifying
=> 18:00 – Pre-Show
=> 18:55 – Qualifying
10/06 – 17:30 to 22:10 – Race
=> 17:30 – Pit Lane Live (also Sky Sports Main Event)
=> 18:30 – On the Grid (also Sky Sports Main Event)
=> 19:05 – Race (also Sky Sports Main Event)
=> 21:30 – Paddock Live

Supplementary Programming
06/06 – 20:30 to 21:00 – The F1 Report: Preview
07/06 – 16:00 to 16:30 – Driver Press Conference
07/06 – 20:45 to 21:00 – Paddock Uncut
09/06 – 20:35 to 21:10 – The F1 Show
13/05 – 20:30 to 21:00 – The F1 Report: Review

BBC Radio F1
08/06 – 14:55 to 16:35 – Practice 1 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
09/06 – 18:55 to 20:05 – Qualifying (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
10/06 – 18:30 to 21:00 – Race (BBC Radio 5 Live)

Formula E – Zurich (online via YouTube)
10/06 – 07:55 to 08:55 – Practice 1
10/06 – 10:25 to 11:10 – Practice 2

Formula E – Zurich
08/06 – 21:30 to 22:00 – Driving Change (BBC News)
10/06 – 12:45 to 14:10 – Qualifying (5Spike)
10/06 – 16:30 to 18:15 – Race (Channel 5)
10/06 – 16:45 to 18:15 – Race (Eurosport 2)

British Touring Car Championship – Oulton Park (ITV4)
10/06 – 11:15 to 18:00 – Races

Euroformula – Spa
09/06 – 13:00 to 14:00 – Race 1 (BT Sport 2)
10/06 – 12:15 to 13:15 – Race 2 (BT Sport 3)

IndyCar Series – Texas 600 (BT Sport/ESPN)
10/06 (Sunday morning) – 01:00 to 04:00 – Race

International GT Open – Spa
09/06 – 14:00 to 15:45 – Race 1 (BT Sport 2)
10/06 – 13:15 to 14:45 – Race 2 (BT Sport 3)

World Rally Championship – Italy
Every stage live via WRCPlus.com
07/06 – 18:00 to 19:00 – Live: Stage 1 [Ittiri Arena Show] (BT Sport 1)
08/06 – Day 1 Highlights
=> 22:30 to 23:00 (Motorsport.tv)
=> 23:30 to 00:00 (BT Sport 2)
09/06 – 07:30 to 08:30 – Live: Stage (BT Sport 1)
09/06 – 15:00 to 16:00 – Live: Stage (BT Sport 1)
09/06 – Day 2 Highlights
=> 21:30 to 22:00 (BT Sport 3)
=> 22:30 to 23:00 (Motorsport.tv)
10/06 – 08:30 to 09:30 – Live: Stage (BT Sport 1)
10/06 – 11:00 to 12:30 – Live: Stage 19 [Power Stage] (BT Sport 1)
10/06 – Day 3 Highlights
=> 21:30 to 22:00 (BT Sport 1)
=> 22:30 to 23:00 (Motorsport.tv)
12/06 – 19:00 to 20:00 – Highlights (Channel 5)

World Superbikes – Brno
08/06 – 08:40 onwards (Eurosport 2)
=> 08:40 to 09:30 – SBK: Practice 1
=> 11:25 to 12:15 – SBK: Practice 2
09/06 – 09:00 to 14:00 – Qualifying and Race 1 (Eurosport 2)
10/06 – 10:00 to 14:00 – Support and Race 2 (Eurosport 2)
13/06 – 20:00 to 21:00 – Highlights (ITV4)

The schedule above will be updated if anything changes.

Scheduling: The 2018 Monaco Grand Prix / Indianapolis 500

One of the biggest motor racing weekends of the year is here: it is time for the Monaco Grand Prix and the Indianapolis 500!

The Monaco round of the Formula 1 season airs live across Sky and Channel 4; however, this weekend Sky’s coverage is airing on four different channels. As usual, the action is airing on their dedicated F1 channel. Sky are simulcasting some on-track sessions across Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Mix, which is not unusual.

The major departure for Sky is that both the qualifying and race are airing live on their main entertainment channel, Sky One, which is a fascinating move ahead of 2019. It is the first session to air live on Sky One since the Spanish Grand Prix qualifying session in 2015, and the first time a Formula 1 race has aired on the channel.

Whether Sky One fulfils F1’s criteria of ‘free to air’ is unclear (given that the channel is not on Freeview, I suspect not), but this is one to keep an eye on as the season progresses.

Over on 5 Live, the radio broadcaster is airing the Chequered Flag podcast on their main station Sunday evening, from 18:00. It is the earliest they have aired the podcast, I imagine this will air on a small tape-delay following the race. Channel 4 meanwhile has highlights of the Historic Monaco Grand Prix weekend airing across the weekend.

BT Sport plays host to the 102nd Indianapolis 500. Although the scheduling is identical to last year, there is no studio coverage, reverting to the set-up from 2016. Last year featured significantly more interest because of Fernando Alonso’s participation in the race.

Channel 4 F1
Sessions
24/05 – 09:55 to 11:45 – Practice 1
24/05 – 13:55 to 16:00 – Practice 2
26/05 – 10:55 to 12:25 – Practice 3
26/05 – 12:55 to 15:45 – Qualifying
27/05 – 13:00 to 17:30 – Race
=> 13:00 – Build-Up
=> 13:45 – Race
=> 16:30 – Reaction

Supplementary Programming
26/05 – 09:55 to 10:55 – Historic Grand Prix of Monaco (part 1)
27/05 – 08:00 to 08:55 – Historic Grand Prix of Monaco (part 2)

Sky Sports F1
Sessions
24/05 – 09:45 to 11:55 – Practice 1
24/05 – 13:45 to 15:50 – Practice 2
26/05 – 10:45 to 12:15 – Practice 3 (also Sky One)
26/05 – 13:00 to 15:40 – Qualifying (also Sky One and Sky Sports Mix)
=> 13:00 – Pre-Show
=> 13:55 – Qualifying
27/05 – 12:30 to 17:30 – Race (also Sky One)
=> 12:30 – Pit Lane Live
=> 13:30 – On the Grid
=> 14:05 – Race (also Sky Sports Main Event)
=> 16:30 – Paddock Live

Supplementary Programming
23/05 – 14:00 to 14:30 – Driver Press Conference
23/05 – 20:30 to 21:00 – The F1 Report: Preview (also Sky Sports Mix)
23/05 – 21:00 to 21:15 – Paddock Uncut
26/05 – 15:40 to 16:15 – The F1 Show (also Sky One and Sky Sports Mix)
30/05 – 20:30 to 21:00 – The F1 Report: Review

BBC Radio 5 Live
24/05 – 21:00 to 22:00 – Preview
26/05 – 14:00 to 15:00 – Qualifying
27/05 – 14:00 to 16:00 – Race
27/05 – 18:00 to 18:30 – Chequered Flag

Formula Renault Eurocup – Monaco
26/05 – 08:45 to 09:45 – Race 1 (BT Sport 1)
27/05 – 10:15 to 11:15 – Race 2 (BT Sport 2)

Formula Two – Monaco (Sky Sports F1)
24/05 – 08:10 to 09:05 – Practice
24/05 – 12:15 to 13:05 – Qualifying
25/05 – 10:25 to 11:55 – Race 1
26/05 – 16:15 to 17:25 – Race 2 (also Sky Sports Mix)

IndyCar Series – Indianapolis 500 (BT Sport 1)
27/05 – 15:30 to 21:00 – Race

Porsche Supercup – Monaco (Sky Sports F1)
27/05 – 09:25 to 10:10 – Race

Speedway Grand Prix – Prague (BT Sport 3)
26/05 – 17:45 to 21:15 – Races

World Superbikes – Donington Park
25/05 – 09:40 onwards (Eurosport 2)
=> 09:40 to 10:30 – SBK: Practice 1
=> 16:45 to 19:00 – SBK and SSP: Practice
26/05 – 10:15 to 15:15 – Qualifying and Race 1 (Eurosport 2)
27/05 – 11:00 to 14:00 – Support and Race 2 (Eurosport 2)
29/05 – 22:00 to 23:00 – Highlights (ITV4)

As always, this post will be updated if the schedule changes.

Updated on May 24th to reflect slight changes for Sky’s simulcasts.

Scheduling: The 2018 Berlin E-Prix / French MotoGP

Formula E and MotoGP are back in action this weekend, in the heartland of Europe.

The electric single seater series heads to Germany for the Berlin E-Prix. The scheduling of the E-Prix at first sight is odd, with the E-Prix scheduled to satisfy domestic viewers rather than international ones. Domestically, the race takes place between the women’s and men’s football domestic cup final; however internationally this results in a clash with the English FA Cup final! Expect a lower than usual UK number as a result.

On the punditry front, it is a newsworthy weekend, with Channel 4’s Formula 1 analyst David Coulthard joining Jack Nicholls and Bob Varsha in the Formula E commentary box. As readers will know, Coulthard is also part of the Whisper Films production company, and Whisper have not yet collaborated with Formula E. Coulthard replaces Dario Franchitti, who is on Indianapolis 500 duty.

MotoGP returns with the French round of the championship, the action as usual live on BT Sport. Elsewhere on BT Sport, it is qualifying for the Indianapolis 500, live coverage airing on both Saturday and Sunday evenings.

In a further scheduling oddity from the outside, the main World Touring Car Cup action from Zandvoort takes place on Monday, but this is because Monday is Whit Monday in Netherlands and many other parts of the world.

MotoGP – France (BT Sport 2)
18/05 – 07:45 to 15:15 – Practice 1 and 2
19/05 – 07:45 to 15:15
=> 07:45 – Practice 3
=> 11:00 – Qualifying
20/05 – 07:30 to 15:00
=> 07:30 – Warm Ups
=> 09:15 – Moto3
=> 11:00 – Moto2
=> 12:30 – MotoGP
=> 14:00 – Chequered Flag

MotoGP – France (Channel 5)
22/05 – 19:00 to 20:00 – Highlights

Formula E – Berlin (online via YouTube)
19/05 – 07:55 to 08:55 – Practice 1
19/05 – 10:25 to 11:10 – Practice 2

Formula E – Berlin
19/05 – 12:30 to 14:00 (Eurosport 2)
=> 12:30 – Preview
=> 13:00 – Qualifying
19/05 – 12:45 to 14:10 – Qualifying (5Spike)
19/05 – 16:45 to 18:15 – Race (Eurosport 2)
19/05 – 16:45 to 18:30 – Race (Channel 5)

Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup – Silverstone
19/05 – 14:00 to 15:00 – Race Start (Motorsport.tv)
19/05 – 14:30 to 18:30 – Race (BT Sport X2)
19/05 – 17:05 to 19:30 – Race Finish (Motorsport.tv)

British Touring Car Championship – Thruxton (ITV4)
20/05 – 11:15 to 18:00 – Races

Formula Renault Eurocup – Silverstone
19/05 – 13:15 to 14:15 – Race 1 (BT Sport 3)
20/05 – 13:15 to 14:30 – Race 2 (BT Sport X2)

IndyCar Series – Indianapolis 500
19/05 – 21:00 to 23:00 – Qualifying – Day 1 (BT Sport 2)
20/05 – 21:00 to 23:00 – Qualifying – Day 2 (BT Sport/ESPN)

World Rally Championship – Portugal
Every stage live via WRCPlus.com
17/05 – 19:00 to 20:00 – Live: Stage 1 (BT Sport/ESPN)
18/05 – 19:00 to 20:00 – Live: Stage 8 and 9 (BT Sport 2)
18/05 – Day 1 Highlights
=> 23:30 to 00:00 (BT Sport 2)
=> 23:30 to 00:00 (Motorsport.tv)
19/05 – 15:00 to 16:00 – Live: Stage 13 (BT Sport 3)
19/05 – Day 2 Highlights
=> 23:30 to 00:00 (Motorsport.tv)
=> 00:00 to 00:30 (BT Sport 1)
20/05 – 09:00 to 10:00 – Live: Stage 17 (BT Sport 3)
20/05 – 12:00 to 13:30 – Live: Stage 19 [Power Stage] (BT Sport/ESPN)
20/05 – Day 3 Highlights
=> 23:30 to 00:00 (Motorsport.tv)
=> 00:30 to 01:00 (BT Sport 3)
23/05 – 19:00 to 20:00 – Highlights (Channel 5)

World Touring Car Cup – Netherlands
21/05 – 07:30 to 08:50 – Qualifying (Eurosport 2)
21/05 – 11:00 to 12:00 – Race 2 (Eurosport)
21/05 – 15:30 to 16:30 – Race 3 (Eurosport)

The schedule above will be updated if anything changes.

Scheduling: The 2018 Spanish Grand Prix

Off the back of a thrilling start to the season, Formula 1 heads back to Europe for the Spanish Grand Prix!

The race weekend is the first time F1’s full revised offering is on offer this season. F1’s on-track sessions start an hour later than in 2017, with the race starting a further ten minutes later at 14:10 instead of 13:00. The changes do not stop there: GP3 qualifying moves to Friday evening, allowing the feeder series’ first race to take place on Saturday morning.

Formula Two retains its existing post-F1 slot on Friday and Saturday, but like F1 takes place an hour later than last year. Sky are taking advantage of the changes FOM and Liberty Media have made, staying live on-air from 13:00 to 17:25 on Saturday, in a block consisting of F1 qualifying, Formula Two’s first race and The F1 Show. I am hopeful the block of programming will flow from one to another without an unnatural break in proceedings to better retain viewers throughout the afternoon.

In addition, Sky’s build-up for both practice one and three will be 30 minutes long, for Spain at least. Channel 4’s highlights programming airs slightly earlier than year. Of course, Spain also sees the long-awaited launch of Formula 1’s new over-the-top service. UK viewers may get access to the basic, non-live tier but no further than that due to the existing and future television rights agreements.

Elsewhere, Quest have picked up live coverage of the Historic Monaco Grand Prix weekend from Motorsport.tv, who previously aired the event under their previous Motors TV guise in 2016. On two wheels, Eurosport are giving World Superbikes additional treatment in 2018, with live coverage of practice on Fridays, which I am adding to the scheduling pieces from this race onwards.

Not specifically related to this weekend, but it looks like no one has grabbed highlights of the World Endurance Championship super-season, perhaps surprisingly considering highlights aired on Channel 4 in 2016, and ITV4 last year.

Channel 4 F1
Sessions
12/05 – 17:00 to 18:30 – Qualifying Highlights
13/05 – 18:00 to 20:00 – Race Highlights

Sky Sports F1
Sessions
11/05 – 09:30 to 11:55 – Practice 1 (also Sky Sports Main Event)
11/05 – 13:45 to 15:50 – Practice 2
12/05 – 10:30 to 12:15 – Practice 3 (also Sky Sports Main Event)
12/05 – 13:00 to 15:40 – Qualifying
=> 13:00 – Pre-Show
=> 13:55 – Qualifying
13/05 – 12:30 to 17:10 – Race
=> 12:30 – Pit Lane Live
=> 13:30 – On the Grid
=> 14:05 – Race
=> 16:30 – Paddock Live

Supplementary Programming
09/05 – 20:30 to 21:00 – The F1 Report: Preview
10/05 – 14:00 to 14:30 – Driver Press Conference
10/05 – 20:45 to 21:00 – Paddock Uncut
12/05 – 16:50 to 17:25 – The F1 Show
16/05 – 20:30 to 21:00 – The F1 Report: Review

BBC Radio F1
11/05 – 09:55 to 11:35 – Practice 1 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
11/05 – 13:55 to 15:35 – Practice 2 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
12/05 – 10:55 to 12:05 – Practice 3 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
12/05 – 14:00 to 15:00 – Qualifying (BBC Radio 5 Live)
13/05 – 14:00 to 16:30 – Race (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)

Formula Two – Spain (Sky Sports F1)
11/05 – 11:55 to 12:50 – Practice
11/05 – 15:50 to 16:30 – Qualifying
12/05 – 15:40 to 16:50 – Race 1
13/05 – 10:25 to 11:25 – Race 2

GP3 Series – Spain (Sky Sports F1)
11/05 – 16:45 to 17:25 – Qualifying
12/05 – 09:10 to 10:05 – Race 1
13/05 – 09:20 to 10:05 – Race 2

Historic Grand Prix of Monaco (Quest)
12/05 – 13:00 to 17:00 – Day 1
13/05 – 12:30 to 16:30 – Day 2

IndyCar Series – Grand Prix of Indianapolis (BT Sport/ESPN)
12/05 – 20:30 to 23:00 – Race

Porsche Supercup – Spain (Sky Sports F1)
13/05 – 11:40 to 12:25 – Race

Speedway Grand Prix – Poland (BT Sport 3)
12/05 – 17:45 to 21:15 – Races

World Superbikes – Imola
11/05 – 08:40 onwards (Eurosport 2)
=> 08:40 to 09:30 – SBK: Practice 1
=> 11:25 to 12:20 – SBK: Practice 2
=> 13:55 to 14:55 – SSP: Practice 2
=> 14:55 to 15:55 – SBK: Practice 3
12/05 – 09:00 to 14:00 – Qualifying and Race 1 (Eurosport 2)
13/05 – 10:00 to 15:00 – Support and Race 2 (Eurosport 2)
15/05 – 20:00 to 21:00 – Highlights (ITV4)

World Touring Car Cup – Nurburgring
11/05 – 16:30 to 17:30 – Qualifying (Eurosport 2)
12/05 – 10:00 to 11:00 – Race 2 (Eurosport)
12/05 – 14:00 to 15:00 – Race 3 (Eurosport)

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