Grand PrixExternal linksWebsiteChannel 4 F1, commonly abbreviated to C4F1, is a British television programme dedicated to the coverage of Formula One motor racing and has been aired by the British broadcaster Channel 4 since 2016. Prior to 2019, half of the season's practice, qualifying sessions and races were shown live, with all other events covered in an extended qualifying and race highlights format. Sky Sports F1 will carry live build up in UHD with the 'Sports Recap' function available throughout the race, which is due to start at 1pm.
The live race will then see Sky Sports' coverage aired across Sky channels and Channel 4, including the Sky commentary team and expert analysis. Under the terms of the deal, Channel 4 will broadcast Sky's production of the live race coverage with its presenting team of Nico Rosberg, Jenson Button, Martin Brundle, Nat Pinkham, David Croft, Karun Chandhok, Simon Lazenby and Ted Kravitz. Channel 4's team of Steve Jones, David Coulthard, Mark Webber and Lee McKenzie will provide build up to the race for 15 minutes from midday before handing over to Sky for their pre-race coverage and Sky's live coverage of the race itself. Adding to the intrigue is that Hamilton and rival Max Verstappen head into the final race of the season equal on points. This disgusting situation is in addition to the also quite unbelievable spectre of Steve Jones telling us during every single C4 F1 highlights program that we could have watched the race live on Sky Sports F1 instead.
Sky Sports F1 will show every aspect of the build up, including practice and qualifying as both drivers aim to gain a crucial advantage before the chequered flag. Additionally, every Sky TV customer will be able to watch everything from qualifying on Saturday to the race on Sunday, with the broadcast shared across Sky Sports and Sky Showcase. All the action from this iconic head-to-head will also be available to NOW members with either a NOW Entertainment or NOW Sports membership. After 349 grand prix starts, 46 fastest laps, 21 wins and one world championship, Kimi Raikkonen has finally called time on his F1 career. In an exclusive interview with Motorsport.com on the eve of his final race, he explains his loathing of paddock politics and reflects on how motorsport has changed over the past two decades.
Additionally, every Sky TV customer will be able to watch everything from qualifying on December 11th to the race on December 12th, with the broadcast shared across Sky Sports and Sky Showcase. All the action from this iconic head-to head will also be available to NOW members with either a NOW Entertainment or NOW Sports membership. Lewis Hamilton stands on the brink of history – victory in Abu Dhabi would clinch an eighth world title and confirm him as the greatest F1 driver ever. This unique final race will go lights out with the two leading drivers on equal points, the Yas Marina track providing a 'winner takes all' close to an epic season.
Beginning 2019, Sky Sports hold exclusive rights to all races excluding the British Grand Prix. In September 2018, it was announced that Channel 4 had agreed to a sub-licensing agreement with Sky, under which it broadcasts free-to-air highlights of all races, and live coverage of the British Grand Prix. As part of the arrangement, Sky will have rights to carry full series of Channel 4 dramas on-demand, while Channel 4 also acquired free-to-air rights to the Sky drama Tin Star.
Hamilton stands on the brink of history as a victory in Abu Dhabi would clinch an eighth world title and confirm him as the greatest F1 driver ever. Hamilton stands on the brink of history - victory in Abu Dhabi would clinch an eighth world title and confirm him as the greatest F1 driver ever. This unique final race will go lights out with the two leading drivers on equal points, the Yas Marina track providing a 'winner takes all' close to an epic season. Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen are locked on 369.5 points at the top of the drivers' standings heading to Sunday's race at the Yas Marina Circuit.
Now their winner-takes-all battle will be shown live on Channel 4, as well as on Sky Sports, who host all F1 races through their subscription services, having reportedly paid over £1bn for a five-year deal back in 2019. Sky has the rights to show all the races live, while Channel 4 is normally limited to a highlights package, though does broadcast the British Grand Prix live. However, as revealed exclusively by The Times yesterday and confirmed by Sky this morning, a deal has been reached in which the satellite broadcaster will share the rights to Sunday's race. Under the current contract subscription service Sky Sports broadcasts all sessions exclusively live, typically on its dedicated channel Sky Sports F1, with FTA Channel 4 showing qualifying and race highlights later in the day.
Hamilton and title rival Max Verstappen enter the final race of the season tied on points, making it a winner-takes-all finale at the Yas Marina Circuit. The two drivers have enjoyed the closest title fight between rivals teams since 2012, and it marks the first final race decider since 2016. Sky's race day coverage of this weekend's Abu Dhabi grand prix will also simulcast on Channel 4, as mentioned above. All Sky customers will have access to qualifying on Saturday and the race via Sky Showcase.
However, Sky Sports F1 will be the only place where you can watch every session, including free practice, as well as the Formula 2 finale. Channel 4 has free-to-air Formula 1 qualifying and race highlights which usually start airing a few hours after the chequered flag has been waved. It also has live free-to-air coverage of the British grand prix every year, and is home of the all-women's W Series. Going into the final grand prix of the year at Abu Dhabi's Yas Marina circuit, Max Verstappen and Sir Lewis Hamilton are tied on 369.5 points each.
The last time where the two leading Formula 1 drivers in the championship went into the final race tied on points was in 1974. Sky has exclusive rights to screen F1 races live in the UK from the start of next season as the shared agreement it has had with terrestrial stations on the BBC and Channel 4 since 2012 ends following this year's campaign. For the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, programmes for races 1-3 were presented from The Silverstone Experience as F1 limited the number of broadcasters on site. Clarkson, who works primarily for F1 TV served as Channel 4's paddock reporter, when they were unable to access the paddock. During coverage of the Hungarian Grand Prix, it was confirmed that they would have access to the paddock for at least the British and 70th Anniversary weekends.
Sky Sports F1 will show every aspect of the build-up, including practice and qualifying as both drivers aim to gain a crucial advantage before the chequered flag. Kayo Sports – Australia's dedicated sports streaming service – has access to every Formula 1® practice session, qualifying session and full Grand Prix race live and on demand. Sky has announced a partnership with Channel 4 that will see Sky Sports' live coverage of the thrilling Formula 1 season finale shared with the whole country right before Christmas, on what could be an historic occasion for Sir Lewis Hamilton.
Channel 4 will continue to broadcast free-to-air highlights of every qualifying session and race throughout the 2021 Formula 1 season, plus live coverage of the British Grand Prix weekend on July. If you're happy to pay a subscription fee so you can watch entire races live, then Sky is the only option in the UK. While Liberty operates an online streaming service – F1 TV Pro – you can't watch it in the UK because of Sky's exclusive deal. Lewis Hamilton passed Max Verstappen with six laps remaining Sunday to win the chaotic inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and pull even on points with his rival as Formula One's thrilling championship race heads into the title-deciding finale.
Mercedes ended the dispute over the Formula One season finale on Thursday when it withdrew its appeal of the controversial finish that cost Lewis Hamilton a record eighth championship. Whereas I wasn't asked for a user name and password to watch the Sochi Qualifying highlights program from Saturday on the same YouView box. So three and a half years on and things have gone from bad to worse with C4 and the availability of their race highlights program post race. This culminated in a race that had finished before 2pm UK time yesterday and was broadcast between 6pm and 8pm still not being available after midnight the following day. Channel 4 and Sky Sports have agreed a rights deal that will see live coverage of the Formula 1 season finale shown free-to-air in the UK, on what could be a historic occasion for Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton.
Channel 4, who normally only have rights for a highlights show in the evening after a race, have struck a deal for live coverage in Abu Dhabi, with the race starting at 1pm UK time on Sunday afternoon. "We are excited that Sky will make the grand prix on Sunday available to Channel 4 viewers so everyone can tune in live for the thrilling finale to this epic season," he said. Channel 4 will broadcast the Formula One season finale live on Sunday after reaching a deal with Sky to share the television rights. A straight shootout between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will decide the destination of the 2021 drivers' championship. The previous deal, which ran from 2012 through 2018, and which Channel 4 took over from the BBC in 2016, enabled the terrestrial broadcaster to show half of the events live – including the season finale. "We've chosen to gift the race to the whole country at Christmas through our partnership with Channel 4, so everyone can be part of a huge national moment as Lewis Hamilton goes for a historic eighth world championship title.
You used to be able watch races live on RTL Germany but Sky Germany now has exclusive rights to show live races in Germany as well. What does all this mean for the championship after a close, dramatic and often controversial season? Will Max win his first ever drivers' title, or will Lewis add an eighth to his record-equalling haul? Thanks to the deal struck between the two broadcasters, the British public will be able to savour every twist and turn as Lewis Hamilton sets his sights on taking a record-breaking eighth World Championship title in the winner-takes-all finale.
Now is the time to tune into Formula One, just in case you've been sleeping on the most spectacular season in decades. After 21 races, the championship battle is tied as F1 screams into its title-deciding season finale in Abu Dhabi. The final round of the season will see the championship fight between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen decided. Because of the high interest in the race, Channel 4 and Sky have struck a deal which will see the race air live on the free-to-air channel as well as the subscription service.
Sunday will be the first time in 47 years two championship contenders have entered the final race level on points - Hamilton and Verstappen each have 369.5. Sky has announced a partnership with Channel 4 that will see Sky Sports' live coverage of the Formula 1 season finale shared with the whole of the UK and Ireland. Coverage of the 2020 and 2021 seasons is sponsored by Bristol Street Motors and Macklin Motors. It was announced at the Turkish Grand Prix that Edwards would step down following the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, his replacement was announced a week later as Alex Jacques who joins from F1's official television channel, including for F2, F3 and Esports. Also it was later announced that 'pen interviews' would be taken from F1TV with Lawrence Barretto joining the team as paddock reporter.
Despite the fact that so many sporting events were cancelled in the past twelve months, along with spectators being barred from being able to see their favourite teams live, there is still reason to be optimistic for sports fans. The new commercial deal penned between Sky Sports and Channel 4 has allowed British fans of the Formula One to tune in via free-to-air television on certain occasions. This new deal means that highlights of all Formula 1 races and live coverage of the Formula 1 British Grand Prix will continue to be shown on Channel 4.
Sky Sports F1 will carry live build up on Sunday from 11.30am in UHD with the 'Sports Recap' function available throughout the race, which is due to start at 1pm. The live race will then see Sky Sports' coverage aired across Sky channels and Channel 4, including the Sky commentary team and expert analysis. The Silverstone weekend was Channel 4's only live action of the season, the broadcaster sharing live coverage with Sky Sports. Sky's schedules show that the broadcaster will simulcast their race day offering across Sky Sports F1 and Sky Sports Main Event, but not via Sky Showcase, as they did last month for coverage of the US Grand Prix qualifying session. Finishing ahead of the Dutch driver would secure the Briton a record eighth world title to break a tie with Michael Schumacher – but Verstappen winning would ensure he wins his first world championship. You can expect to see a couple of Formula 2 drivers from Red Bull's long-running academy programme in action, including Juri Vips and Liam Lawson .
McLaren will welcome IndyCar star Pato O'Ward, after he fulfilled a bet with team boss Zak Brown by winning his first race in the series earlier this year (he's spent some time in the simulator and been for a seat fitting already). Alex Bowman made it six straight wins for Hendrick Motorsports, when teammate Kyle Larson's Chevrolet blew a tire on the final lap, and he took the checkered flag Saturday at Pocono Raceway for his third Cup win of the season. While the battle for the Formula One championship appears destined to go down to the final race of the season, Max Verstappen does have a chance clinch his first career title in Saudi Arabia. The other way to watch for free – especially if you want to watch races live – is to use a VPN and stream them from broadcasters in other countries which show races on free-to-air channels . Hamilton, 36, and Verstappen, 24, are level on points in the drivers' standings which has set up a mouthwatering final race of the season. On 21 December 2015, the BBC announced that it would end its deal with Formula One three years early due to budget cuts and would transfer the remaining three years to Channel 4.
Channel 4 would be showing ten selected races live without advertisements and every race were to be shown as highlights. Channel 4 was the first free-to-air station that ran without commercial breaks during its ten live races. Channel 4's team of Steve Jones, David Coulthard, Mark Webber and Lee McKenzie will provide build-up to the race for 15 minutes from midday before handing over to Sky for their pre-race coverage and Sky's live coverage of the race itself. Under the terms of the agreement, Channel 4 will broadcast Sky's production of the live race coverage with its presenting team of Nico Rosberg, Jenson Button, Martin Brundle, Nat Pinkham, David Croft, Karun Chandhok, Simon Lazenby and Ted Kravitz. All five sessions – practices, quali, and the race – will be shown live on Sky Sports F1, while Channel 4 airs highlights of qualifying and live coverage of the race.
Hamilton's win in Jeddah means the bitter rivals are level on points with one race remaining, creating unprecedented interest as the English driver seeks a victory that would give him a record eighth championship. For free-to-air viewers, 10 Bold broadcasts race highlights on Monday night after each Grand Prix. Verstappen has the potential to clinch his first F1 drivers' championship, while the British appeal for fans undoubtedly lies with Hamilton and his bid to win a Michael Schumacher-beating eighth world title as the pair currently sit tied on seven.
As first reported by The Times, the two companies have reached an agreement to allow Channel 4 to show the race live as Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen duel for the drivers' championship. Skysports.com/f1 – has all the latest news, interviews, features and video content, including previews and race highlights. This scenario is a concern for Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff who, having watched Hamilton crash into the back of Verstappen last time out, said he thought the quicker car with the quicker driver should win the championship. The task for both men is simple – finish ahead of their title rival – but advantage is still with Verstappen. Should neither finish in the points then the Red Bull driver will be awarded his maiden championship on account of having won more races than Hamilton this season.
For the first time since 1974, the title contenders go into the final race level on points. Seven-time world champion Hamilton, having been 19 points behind Verstappen four races ago, has drawn level after a trio of dominant performances in Brazil, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. "We are excited that Sky will make the Grand Prix on Sunday available to Channel 4 viewers so everyone can tune in live for the thrilling finale to this epic season," said F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali. But as Lewis Hamilton goes in search of a record eighth world championship in Abu Dhabi, it has been announced that Channel 4 will show the race live. On Saturday, a combined audience of just over 2 million viewers watched Channel 4's and Sky's Sprint programming, including build-up and post-session analysis.
Sky have seemingly reacted to Channel 4's qualifying conundrum by opting to simulcast their live coverage on their new Sky Showcase channel, enabling more viewers to watch qualifying across Sky, Virgin Media and BT TV. In 2016, the season finale aired live across Channel 4 and Sky Sports as part of the UK F1 TV rights agreement that was in place at that time. If Verstappen does not clinch the championship at the next round in Saudi Arabia, it will be the first time since 2016 that the championship has gone to the final race of the season.
The other way to watch for free - especially if you want to watch races live - is to use a VPN and stream them from broadcasters in other countries which show races on free-to-air channels . Sky Sports has aired Formula 1 live and without ad breaks in the UK since 2013, on a dedicated channel, and will continue to do so in 2022. Its grand prix weekend coverage also covers the FIA's feeder series, Formula 2 and Formula 3. In the event of one of these relatively unlikely outcomes leading to a tie on points, the driver who has claimed the most wins of the season would take the title. This season, Max has won nine grands prix while Lewis has won eight, which would therefore make Max the drivers' champion if they were tied on points.
In the event two drivers had the same number of points and grand prix victories, the countback continues through the highest number of second places, highest number of third places and so on. UK-based fans of the only all-electric motorsport World Championship will have the opportunity to see more live races in Season 8 than in any previous season. Sir Frank Williams, the founder and former team principal of Williams Racing, has died. Williams took his motor racing team from an empty carpet warehouse to the summit of Formula One, overseeing 114 victories, a combined 16 drivers' and constructors' world championships, while becoming the longest-serving team boss in the sport's history. Max Verstappen has no shortage of confidence as he enters Sunday's final Formula One race of the season tied with Lewis Hamilton in points for the driver's championship.
Watch the entire thrilling final lap as Max Verstappen overtakes Lewis Hamilton to capture his first F1 world championship, and check out all the celebration from the Red Bull driver after his exciting victory. Have you not considered that any delay in uploading the race to catch up is most possibly part of the contract they had to agree with Sky to maintain a free to air highlights package. The same contract that results in the "unbelievable spectre" of Steve Jones having to advise viewers during the qualifying show that the race is live exclusively on Sky - because it is as that's who own the rights. The current highlight format of the show has proved popular with fans, fusing opinionated analysis and well-informed news within an entertainment show style with slick graphics. The new agreement will start with the current 2020 season, which kicks off this week in Melbourne, March.
Whisper will continue its widely acclaimed F1 coverage for all 22 races and beyond, which is often scheduled for peak C4 slots on Saturday and Sunday evenings during each race weekend. Channel 4 will broadcast the 2019 British Grand Prix live to UK television viewers, with the other 20 Formula 1 races shown as highlights in a new deal with Sky. French publication and broadcaster L'Equipe has also extended its arrangement with Formula E to host the championship on its online channels into FE's eighth season. Unlike BBC iPlayer, you can't join a live broadcast and you may have to wait hours for the race highlights to appear in the app. The highlights show on Channel 4 is set to increase in duration ahead of the 2020 season, allowing fans in the UK without Sky Sports to see more of the action on the highlights show. The final round of the 2021 Formula One season takes place this weekend with live coverage on Sky Sports and Channel 4.
As well as being shown on Channel 4, the race will be available via a live simulcast on All4 - Channel 4's on-demand channel. Viewers will be able to watch Channel 4's highlights programme on demand after it airs on Sunday evening. Channel 4's team of Steve Jones, David Coulthard, Mark Webber and Lee McKenzie will provide build-up to the race for 15 minutes from midday on Sunday before handing over to Sky for their pre-race coverage and live coverage of the race itself. Under the terms of the deal, Channel 4 will broadcast Sky's production of the live race coverage with its presenting team of Nico Rosberg, Jenson Button, Martin Brundle, Nat Pinkham, David Croft, Karun Chandhok, Simon Lazenby and Ted Kravitz. Foxtel owns the TV rights to broadcast Formula 1® in Australia, including every practice session, qualifying session and full Grand Prix race in HD. Currently, the pay-TV network's deal with Formula One – which is worth as much as UK£1 billion (US$1.31 billion) according to GP Today – means Sky Sports has exclusive UK rights to all of the series' races, apart from the British Grand Prix, until 2024.
