BBC and Sky confirm 2015 coverage details

BBC Sport and Sky Sports have today confirmed their 2015 calendar picks. The picks are as follows:

2015 Schedule Details
March 15th – Australia (Melbourne) – Sky
March 29th – Malaysia (Sepang) – BBC and Sky
April 12th – China (Shanghai) – Sky
April 19th – Bahrain (Sakhir) – BBC and Sky
May 10th – Spain (Barcelona) – Sky
May 24th – Monaco (Monaco) – Sky
June 7th – Canada (Montreal) – BBC and Sky
June 21st – Austria (Red Bull Ring) – Sky
July 5th – Britain (Silverstone) – BBC and Sky
July 19th – Germany (TBA) – Sky
July 26th – Hungary (Budapest) – BBC and Sky
August 23rd – Belgium (Spa) – BBC and Sky
September 6th – Italy (Monza) – Sky
September 20th – Singapore (Marina Bay) – Sky
September 27th – Japan (Suzuka) – BBC and Sky
October 11th – Russia (Sochi) – BBC and Sky
October 25th – USA (Circuit of the Americas) – Sky
November 1st – Mexico (Mexico City) – Sky
November 15th – Brazil (Interlagos) – BBC and Sky
November 29th – Abu Dhabi (Yas Marina) – BBC and Sky

Both teams appear to be the same as in 2014, with Sky confirming their team on the website. Interestingly, there are no changes, although I assume that Natalie Pinkham will not be travelling to the early races with Sky. The F1 Show will be returning to the channel (date TBC) along with GP2 and GP3, but testing will not be broadcast live on Sky Sports F1. Live updates however will be provided on Sky Sports News. Following clarification with Sky, the mention of “live pre-season testing from Barcelona and Jerez in February” in the press release refers to the live updates on Sky Sports News only.

BBC’s Head of F1, Ben Gallop said: “Like all F1 fans, we can’t wait for the 2015 season. With Lewis Hamilton as World Champion, F1 in Britain is in a great position and we’re delighted with our race package. These live races, combined with our ever-popular highlights programmes and our extensive coverage on radio and online means F1 fans can follow every step of Hamilton’s title defence on the BBC.”

Sky Sports F1’s executive producer Martin Turner said: “All eyes are on world champion Lewis Hamilton and Sky Sports F1 will be the only place to follow every race of his title defence. There are so many exciting story lines next season and we’ll cover every twist and turn from Australia to Abu Dhabi.”

There is no major surprises above. Bahrain may be considered a surprise, however it has a more prominent slot now which justifies BBC showing it live. I find it interesting how BBC are showing four out of the ten European races live, their first European race is not until July. In general, the BBC picks are more lop-sided towards the latter half of the season, which makes sense considering how the 2014 title race went. For those unfamiliar, the pick order goes as follows:

– BBC pick 1, 2 and 3
– Sky pick 4, 5 and 6
– BBC pick 7
– Sky pick 8

Shockingly, I predicted 14 out of the 20 picks correctly, which is pleasing! What this does mean is that, there is not a lot to change from my guesstimates to reality. As predicted, BBC picked Britain, Abu Dhabi and Brazil, presumably learning from their mistake in 2014 where Brazil was concerned. Sky countered with USA and Mexico, at this point things diverged. I predicted that Sky would take Canada ahead of Monaco. As it turned out, Sky considered Monaco ahead of Canada, presumably because Monaco is a blue ribboned event and is good for advertising and press releases.

So, BBC at this stage went for Canada in my opinion. I thought Sky would go for Bahrain, but again Australia is probably the better pick because of its season opening slot, with BBC grabbing Bahrain. Bahrain previously would be one of the least preferred races, but its mid-afternoon slot, and potentially the great 2014 race, has upped its stock. Sky picking Spain is surprising given that BBC have aired it live from 2012 to 2014, so that must have been earlier in the pick process. From there, the picks alternate between the two sides until all races have been picked.

I think both sides will be pleased with how things have turned out. The important thing for the BBC was getting a good run in, which they have with four of the last six races live, whilst Sky have the season opener and Monaco.

Scheduling: The 2015 Buenos Aires ePrix

The 2014-15 Formula E season continues through South America, stopping in Argentina for the Buenos Aires ePrix!

The race marks race four of the nine round season, the unofficial halfway stage of the season. I say unofficial as, following this race, the championship goes on a two month break, returning in March from Miami on the same weekend as the Australian F1 Grand Prix. The reason for the large gap is because the round in Rio, scheduled originally for early February, failed to materialise. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt as this is season one, but the calendar has to be paced better for season two. Eleven or twelve races, with two or three week gaps, would be better for the 2015-16 season.

On location is the usual team of Nicki Shields, Jack Nicholls and Dario Franchitti, with Jennie Gow in the ITV Sport studio alongside guests to be confirmed as of writing. If one of your New Year resolutions was to watch a Formula E race, then you’ll be happy to learn that ITV4’s coverage has no adverts during the race itself, so you don’t miss a thing. There are plenty of adverts during the pre and post-race coverage, but this is a good compromise in my opinion.

Formula E – Buenos Aires (online via FIAFormulaE.com)
10/01 – 13:25 to 14:10 – Practice 2
10/01 – 14:45 to 16:10 – Qualifying

Formula E – Buenos Aires (ITV4)
10/01 – 18:00 to 20:30 – Race
11/01 – 11:00 to 12:00 – Highlights

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

Scheduling: The 2014 Punta del Este ePrix

The cold winter days are upon us, which means that the motor sport season is over. Well, not quite. With Formula E running through the winter, your motor sport fix is actually never far away!

Round 3 of the series takes place in Uruguay and ITV4 has full live coverage again. Jennie Gow presents the show alongside Alex Brundle and Mark Priestley in the studio. Jack Nicholls and Dario Franchitti will be on location commentating, with Nicki Shields down in pit lane. No coverage of qualifying on ITV4, but the action will be streamed on Formula E’s website, details are listed below.

As well as Formula E, there is the annual Race of Champions event, which airs live on Motors TV. Frustratingly, the Nations Cup portion clashes with Formula E, however Motors TV is repeating the running in full on Sunday afternoon so this is not too much of an issue.

Formula E – Punta del Este (online via FIAFormulaE.com)
13/12 – 12:30 to 13:00 – Practice 2
13/12 – 14:00 to 14:55 – Qualifying

Formula E – Punta del Este (ITV4)
13/12 – 17:00 to 19:30 – Race
14/12 – 09:30 to 10:30 – Highlights

Race of Champions (Motors TV)
13/12 – 16:00 to 19:05 – Nations Cup
14/12 – 12:55 to 16:00 – Nations Cup (R)
14/12 – 16:00 to 19:05 – Race of Champions

As always, I’ll update the above if anything is added or changed.

Update on December 13th – As per this tweet from Jack Nicholls, practice one is not broadcast online. Apologies.

BBC and Sky programming over the festive period

The 2014 Christmas schedules are starting to come out and with that, some end of season reviews to make you aware of.

BBC have their usual season review, whilst over on Sky, they have an #AskCrofty Special and Midweek Report review before Christmas. Sky also have two specials concerning Lewis Hamilton and Johnny Herbert. Details are unknown about both shows, but I suspect the Hamilton special is Sky’s season review. Some team review details should filter through soon, assuming Sky are still going down that route as in previous years.

No sign of live coverage of the AUTOSPORT Awards or the FIA Gala on Sky Sports F1 in the UK, which shouldn’t be too surprising as they did not screen live coverage in 2012 or 2013, although highlights of the former were screened over the Christmas period last year. There is not a massive amount in the schedules at the moment, but listed below are the current scheduling details.

BBC F1
27/12/14 – 13:00 to 14:10 – Season Review (BBC One)

Sky F1
05/12/14 – 20:00 to 21:30 – The F1 Show #AskCrofty Special (Sky Sports F1)
10/12/14 – 21:15 to 22:15 – Midweek Report Season Review (Sky Sports F1)
13/12/14 – 23:00 to 00:00 – Lewis Hamilton: A Champion’s Story (Sky Sports 1 + F1)
19/12/14 – 20:35 to 21:30 – 2014 AUTOSPORT Awards Highlights (Sky Sports F1)

As always, any updates and I will update the above.

Update on December 13th – It looks like the Hamilton special is actually premièring on Monday 13th November at 23:00 on Sky Sports 1 and F1. What this means is that there is no season review over the Christmas period, and it also looks like there will be no team reviews over, so a significant reduction in output for the channel, besides the usual repeats.

Update on December 17th – Highlights of the AUTOSPORT Awards have been added to Sky’s schedules.

Update on December 23rd – The ‘Johnny Herbert: Life Without Limits’ show has disappeared completely from Sky’s schedules, so presumably the show is not happening.

Scheduling: The 2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

After 18 races, the Formula 1 championship battle comes down to the final round of the season in Abu Dhabi! In any of the previous seasons, that statement may be somewhat surprising, but given the double points scenario this year, it is not too much of a surprise to see the battle between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg go down to the wire.

With no broadcasting announcements yet for 2015, it remains to be seen whether Abu Dhabi will be the last race for anyone on the BBC and Sky Sports teams. What we do know is that Natalie Pinkham will not be at any of the early 2015 races, but as of writing, we don’t know who will be filling her position. I suspect it will be Rachel Brookes, but that hasn’t been confirmed officially. Sadly though, Abu Dhabi will be the last race for Will Buxton as lead GP2 and GP3 commentator. The change will allow Buxton to focus solely on Formula 1 for NBC Sports, even so, he will be missed by those viewers who listen to his passionate commentary.

One person who will have an unusually busy weekend is Jennie Gow. Thanks to Formula 1 and Formula E clashing, Gow is flying to Abu Dhabi as usual mid-week, flying back to the UK after her F1 practice commitments with the BBC on Friday. Gow then heads to ITV’s London Studios to present Formula E live in the early hours of Saturday mornings, and is straight back on another plane to Abu Dhabi to cover the Formula 1 race live for BBC Radio 5 Live! For Formula E, Gow will be joined in the ITV studio by Alex Brundle and Mark Priestley.

I’ve changed the usual format to see if there are ways that the information can be presented better, I may stick to the below for 2015 instead of having one long list. It also allows me to cover different series instead of using abbreviations throughout. I notice Sky are continuing Classic F1 races throughout December, so I have omitted that as well from the below. But, for the last time in 2014, here is the full UK Formula 1 schedule with all the details you need:

Formula 1 – Sessions (BBC TV)
21/11 – 08:55 to 10:35 – Practice 1 (BBC Two)
21/11 – 13:00 to 14:35 – Practice 2 (BBC Two)
22/11 – 09:55 to 11:05 – Practice 3 (BBC Two)
22/11 – 12:10 to 14:15 – Qualifying (BBC One)
23/11 – 12:10 to 15:30 – Race (BBC One)

Formula 1 – Sessions (BBC Radio)
21/11 – 08:55 to 10:35 – Practice 1 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
21/11 – 12:55 to 14:35 – Practice 2 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
22/11 – 09:55 to 11:05 – Practice 3 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
22/11 – 13:00 to 14:05 – Qualifying (BBC Radio 5 Live)
23/11 – 12:45 to 15:00 – Race (BBC Radio 5 Live)

Formula 1 – Sessions (Sky Sports)
21/11 – 08:45 to 11:10 – Practice 1 (Sky Sports F1)
21/11 – 12:45 to 15:05 – Practice 2 (Sky Sports F1)
22/11 – 09:45 to 11:15 – Practice 3 (Sky Sports F1)
22/11 – 11:15 to 14:35 – Qualifying (Sky Sports F1)
22/11 – 12:00 to 14:35 – Qualifying (Sky1)
22/11 – 13:00 to 15:35 – Qualifying (Sky1 +1)
23/11 – 11:30 to 16:15 – Race (Sky Sports F1)
=> 11:30 – Track Parade
=> 12:00 – Race
=> 15:30 – Paddock Live

Formula 1 – Supplementary Programming
20/11 – 11:00 to 11:45 – Driver Press Conference (Sky Sports F1)
20/11 – 20:00 to 21:00 – Preview (BBC Radio 5 Live)
20/11 – 20:45 to 21:00 – Gear Up for Abu Dhabi (Sky Sports F1)
21/11 – 16:00 to 16:45 – Team Press Conference (Sky Sports F1)
21/11 – 17:00 to 18:00 – The F1 Show (Sky Sports F1)
21/11 – 18:45 to 19:00 – Inside F1 (BBC News Channel)
22/11 – 18:45 to 19:00 – Inside F1 (BBC News Channel)
23/11 – 15:30 to 16:30 – Forum (BBC Red Button)
23/11 – 16:15 to 17:15 – Architects of F1: John Barnard (Sky Sports F1)
26/11 – 20:30 to 21:00 – Midweek Report (Sky Sports F1)

GP2 Series (Sky Sports F1)
21/11 – 07:15 to 08:05 – Practice
21/11 – 15:05 to 15:45 – Qualifying
22/11 – 14:35 to 16:05 – Race 1
23/11 – 10:15 to 11:30 – Race 2

GP3 Series (Sky Sports F1)
21/11 – 11:10 to 11:45 – Qualifying
22/11 – 08:00 to 09:00 – Race 1
23/11 – 08:55 to 09:55 – Race 2

Formula E – Putrajaya (ITV4)
22/11 – 05:00 to 07:30 – Race
22/11 – 18:00 to 19:00 – Highlights

As always, if anything changes I shall update this blog if necessary.

Update on November 18th at 16:10 – Sky are staying live on Saturday from 09:45 all the way through to 16:05, as their qualifying build-up has been extended to a mammoth 105 minutes.