From a fairly confusing Spanish Grand Prix, it is time for the glitz and glamour in the Formula 1 world: the Monaco Grand Prix! One of the shocks when the BBC and Sky picks came out at the end of last year was the the Monaco Grand Prix will be screened on Sky Sports F1 exclusively live. As thus, BBC viewers will either have to listen to it on the radio, wait for the highlights or find another method of viewing.

Sky’s coverage during the weekend is broadly similar to last year, with an extra The F1 Show again on the schedule. The Qualifying show is 20 minutes longer but there are no other changes versus last year. As normal, there are five classic races – 1992 and 1996 in highlights form with 2003, 2008 and 2011 as full races. Aside from that, there is some special programming within the schedule. ‘Monaco: The Greatest Race of All’ first airs on Friday 17th May following The F1 Show, as Steve Rider asks drivers past and present their thoughts on the Monte Carlo race. I suspect it is bits from his ‘F1 Legends’ interviews cut into one programme, but we shall see. ‘GP Uncovered’ is a strand of archive programming looking back at past Monaco Grand Prix races. If you don’t have access to Sky Sports F1, the strand is repeated also on the main Sky Sports channels.

On BBC, due to cricket and golf on the schedule, neither Qualifying or Practice 3 are live on BBC Radio, both sessions you can only listen to online. Also not on the schedule is the GP3 Series, despite being on the Monaco Grand Prix schedule last year, they will be having a standalone race towards the end of June. I’ve also added the Indianapolis 500 to the schedule, it is unfortunate that only two men and their dogs will be watching that prestigious event…

Friday 17th May
20:00 to 21:00 – The F1 Show (Sky Sports F1)
21:00 to 21:30 – Monaco: The Greatest Race of All (Sky Sports F1)

Saturday 18th May
20:00 to 20:30 – GP Uncovered: 1955 Monaco Grand Prix (Sky Sports F1)
– from the D. A. Clarke archive
– repeated on Friday 24th May at 19:30
20:30 to 21:15 – F1: 1992 Monaco Grand Prix Highlights (Sky Sports F1)
– commentary from Murray Walker and James Hunt
– repeated on Friday 24th May at 18:00

Sunday 19th May
20:00 to 20:40 – GP Uncovered: 1957 Monaco Grand Prix (Sky Sports F1)
– from the Castrol archive
– repeated on Friday 24th May at 21:30
20:40 to 21:20 – F1: 1996 Monaco Grand Prix Highlights (Sky Sports F1)
– commentary from Murray Walker and Jonathan Palmer
– repeated on Friday 24th May at 18:45

Monday 20th May
20:00 to 20:40 – GP Uncovered: 1957 Monaco Grand Prix (Sky Sports F1)
– from the JFPT archive
– repeated on Saturday 25th May at 11:20
20:40 to 22:55 – F1: 2003 Monaco Grand Prix (Sky Sports F1)
– commentary from James Allen and Martin Brundle
– repeated on Friday 24th May at 22:10

Tuesday 21st May
20:00 to 20:30 – GP Uncovered: 1962 French Grand Prix (Sky Sports F1)
– from the Castrol archive
– repeated on Saturday 25th May at 17:30
20:30 to 23:00 – F1: 2008 Monaco Grand Prix (Sky Sports F1)
– commentary from James Allen and Martin Brundle
– repeated on Saturday 25th May at 22:25

Wednesday 22nd May
14:00 to 14:45 – F1: Driver Press Conference (Sky Sports F1)
19:45 to 20:00 – F1: Gear up for Monaco (Sky Sports F1)
20:00 to 20:30 – GP Uncovered: 1958 Monaco Grand Prix (Sky Sports F1)
– from the Hepolite archive
– repeated on Sunday 26th May at 18:30
20:30 to 23:30 – F1: 2011 Monaco Grand Prix (Sky Sports F1)
– commentary from Martin Brundle and David Coulthard
– repeated on Sunday 26th May at 08:15

Thursday 23rd May
08:45 to 11:00 – F1: Practice 1 (Sky Sports F1)
08:55 to 10:35 – F1: Practice 1 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
11:00 to 11:35 – GP2: Practice (Sky Sports F1)
12:45 to 15:00 – F1: Practice 2 (Sky Sports F1)
12:55 to 14:35 – F1: Practice 2 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
15:10 to 15:55 – GP2: Qualifying (Sky Sports F1)
16:00 to 16:45 – F1: Team Press Conference (Sky Sports F1)
17:00 to 18:00 – The F1 Show (Sky Sports F1)
20:00 to 21:00 – F1: Preview (BBC Radio 5 Live)

Friday 24th May
10:10 to 11:35 – GP2: Race 1 (Sky Sports F1)
17:00 to 18:00 – The F1 Show (Sky Sports F1)
18:45 to 19:00 – Inside F1 (BBC News Channel)

Saturday 25th May
09:45 to 11:10 – F1: Practice 3 (Sky Sports F1)
12:00 to 15:05 – F1: Qualifying (Sky Sports F1)
15:05 to 16:10 – GP2: Race 2 (Sky Sports F1)
17:35 to 18:50 – F1: Qualifying (BBC One)
19:45 to 20:00 – Inside F1 (BBC News Channel)

Sunday 26th May
11:30 to 16:00 – F1: Race (Sky Sports F1)
13:00 to 15:00 – F1: Race (BBC Radio 5 Live)
16:00 to 17:00 – F1 Legends: Gerhard Berger (Sky Sports F1)
17:00 to 20:30 – Indianapolis 500 (ESPN)
17:35 to 19:05 – F1: Race (BBC One)
– note: For Scotland viewers, the race is on BBC Two at 18:35

Wednesday 29th May
19:00 to 19:30 – Midweek Report (Sky Sports F1)

After the four fly away races, Formula 1 heads back to Europe, starting with the Spanish Grand Prix. Both BBC and Sky Sports are live this weekend for the second time this season. Also this weekend is coverage of the GP2 Series, and round one of the GP3 Series with commentary as always from Will Buxton. One personnel addition to note for Spain, and that is Allan McNish making his first of six appearances for the BBC 5 Live F1 team, as revealed back in March.

Sky’s schedule also has several Classic F1 race highlights as outlined below, along with some 1983 action, more details on that can be found here. BBC’s schedule has slightly different practice lengths, with more post practice discussion for FP2 and FP3, a good move by them. Here’s how the schedule shapes up:

Monday 6th May
21:00 to 21:45 – F1: 1986 Spanish Grand Prix Highlights (Sky Sports F1)
– commentary from Murray Walker and James Hunt
– repeated on Friday 10th May at 08:00
21:45 to 22:30 – F1: 1991 Spanish Grand Prix Highlights (Sky Sports F1)
– commentary from Murray Walker and James Hunt
– repeated on Friday 10th May at 12:05

Tuesday 7th May
21:00 to 21:45 – F1: 1994 Spanish Grand Prix Highlights (Sky Sports F1)
– commentary from Murray Walker and Jonathan Palmer
– repeated on Saturday 11th May at 18:00
21:45 to 22:30 – F1: 1996 Spanish Grand Prix Highlights (Sky Sports F1)
– commentary from Murray Walker and Jonathan Palmer
– repeated on Saturday 11th May at 18:45

Wednesday 8th May
20:00 to 22:30 – F1: 2011 Spanish Grand Prix (Sky Sports F1)
– commentary from Martin Brundle and David Coulthard
– repeated on Sunday 12th May at 20:45

Thursday 9th May
14:00 to 14:45 – F1: Driver Press Conference (Sky Sports F1)
17:45 to 18:00 – F1: Gear Up for Spain (Sky Sports F1)
22:00 to 22:30 – F1: Preview (BBC Radio 5 Live)

Friday 10th May
08:45 to 11:00 – F1: Practice 1 (Sky Sports F1)
08:55 to 10:35 – F1: Practice 1 (BBC Two)
11:00 to 11:40 – GP2: Practice (Sky Sports F1)
12:45 to 14:50 – F1: Practice 2 (Sky Sports F1)
13:00 to 14:45 – F1: Practice 2 (BBC Two)
14:50 to 15:35 – GP2: Qualifying (Sky Sports F1)
16:15 to 17:00 – F1: Team Press Conference (Sky Sports F1)
17:00 to 18:00 – The F1 Show (Sky Sports F1)
18:45 to 19:00 – Inside F1 (BBC News Channel)

Saturday 11th May
08:45 to 09:30 – GP3: Qualifying (Sky Sports F1)
09:45 to 11:10 – F1: Practice 3 (Sky Sports F1)
09:55 to 11:10 – F1: Practice 3 (BBC Two)
12:00 to 14:35 – F1: Qualifying (Sky Sports F1)
12:10 to 14:15 – F1: Qualifying (BBC One)
14:35 to 16:00 – GP2: Race 1 (Sky Sports F1)
16:15 to 17:05 – GP3: Race 1 (Sky Sports F1)

Sunday 12th May
08:20 to 09:10 – GP3: Race 2 (Sky Sports F1)
09:30 to 10:35 – GP2: Race 2 (Sky Sports F1)
11:30 to 16:00 – F1: Race (Sky Sports F1)
12:10 to 15:15 – F1: Race (BBC One)
15:15 to 16:15 – F1: Forum (BBC Red Button)
16:00 to 17:00 – Architects of F1: Max Mosley (Sky Sports F1)

Wednesday 15th May
19:00 to 19:30 – Midweek Report (Sky Sports F1)

If anything changes, I shall update the schedule.

Update on May 4th – Sky’s new online show ‘Midweek Report’ presented by Anna Woolhouse has been added to the schedules, as thus I have added it above.

From China, the teams and drivers quickly move onto the Bahrain Grand Prix. As usual, Sky will be screening five previous races from the circuit – in this case 2006 through to 2010. GP2 is also back on the schedule after not appearing in China, this being round two of their season. Below are all the details you need:

Tuesday 16th April
20:00 to 22:15 – F1: 2006 Bahrain Grand Prix (Sky Sports F1)
– commentary from James Allen and Martin Brundle
– repeated on Friday 19th April at 23:10
22:15 to 00:30 – F1: 2007 Bahrain Grand Prix (Sky Sports F1)
– commentary from James Allen and Martin Brundle
– repeated on Saturday 20th April at 15:05

Wednesday 17th April
20:00 to 22:15 – F1: 2008 Bahrain Grand Prix (Sky Sports F1)
– commentary from James Allen and Martin Brundle
– repeated on Saturday 20th April at 20:15
22:15 to 00:30 – F1: 2009 Bahrain Grand Prix (Sky Sports F1)
– commentary from Jonathan Legard and Martin Brundle
– repeated on Sunday 21st April at 06:30

Thursday 18th April
13:00 to 13:45 – F1: Driver Press Conference (Sky Sports F1)
18:15 to 18:30 – F1: Gear Up for Bahrain (Sky Sports F1)
20:00 to 22:15 – F1: 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix (Sky Sports F1)
– commentary from Jonathan Legard and Martin Brundle
– repeated on Sunday 14th April at 20:45
21:00 to 21:30 – F1: Preview (BBC Radio 5 Live)

Friday 19th April
07:45 to 09:55 – F1: Practice 1 (Sky Sports F1)
07:55 to 09:35 – F1: Practice 1 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
09:55 to 10:35 – GP2: Practice (Sky Sports F1)
11:45 to 13:55 – F1: Practice 2 (Sky Sports F1)
11:55 to 13:35 – F1: Practice 2 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
13:55 to 14:35 – GP2: Qualifying (Sky Sports F1)
15:00 to 15:45 – F1: Team Press Conference (Sky Sports F1)
16:00 to 17:00 – The F1 Show (Sky Sports F1)
18:45 to 19:00 – Inside F1 (BBC News Channel)

Saturday 20th April
08:45 to 10:10 – F1: Practice 3 (Sky Sports F1)
08:55 to 10:05 – F1: Practice 3 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
11:00 to 13:40 – F1: Qualifying (Sky Sports F1)
11:55 to 13:05 – F1: Qualifying (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
13:40 to 15:05 – GP2: Race 1 (Sky Sports F1)
17:10 to 18:25 – F1: Qualifying (BBC One)
19:45 to 20:00 – Inside F1 (BBC News Channel)

Sunday 21st April
08:45 to 09:50 – GP2: Race 2 (Sky Sports F1)
11:30 to 16:00 – F1: Race (Sky Sports F1)
13:00 to 14:45 – F1: Race (BBC Radio 5 Live)
16:00 to 16:45 – GP Uncovered: Stirling Moss (Sky Sports F1)
17:00 to 18:35 – F1: Race (BBC One)

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