It has been a long time coming but the lights finally go out on the 2020 Formula 1 season and you can follow every race live on Sky Sports F1 and via Channel 4’s free-to-air highlights.
The celebrations for the 70th anniversary of the sport have changed somewhat, with it looking unlikely the season will include the record 22 grands prix that were planned, and the party will be moved into the fans’ own homes as the race takes place behind closed doors.
Nonetheless, it will be a relief to F1 fans and all involved within the sport to finally get the season rolling, when there were fears as to whether it would take place at all in 2020 due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
An initial eight-race European calendar has been confirmed so far, with further dates to be added soon as the sport targets a schedule of between 15 and 18 races between July and December, including more races in Europe, as well as Asia and the Americas.
The 2020 campaign was due to start in Australia back in March, but the event was called off hours before first practice was due to start amid coronavirus fears, with many races being postponed or cancelled, including the Monaco Grand Prix, since then.
The long-awaited first race of the 2020 season will now take place at the picturesque Red Bull Ring, which will stage the first two races of the season; the Austrian Grand Prix on 3-5 July, followed a week later by the Styrian Grand Prix.
There will also be back-to-back Grands Prix at Silverstone, starting with the British Grand Prix on 31 July-2 August, with the ’70th Anniversary Grand Prix’, named in honour of the circuit hosting the championship’s inaugural event in 1950, taking place the following week.
Reigning six-time world champion Lewis Hamilton will lead the class of 2020 in his Mercedes and will looking to tie Michael Schumacher’s all-time record number of world championships this season by claiming his seventh title.
Find out whether he can by watching extensive coverage on Sky Sports F1 and Channel 4 throughout the season.
Whilst the breadth of coverage is the same as 2019 – all races live on Sky Sports and free-to-air highlights, plus the British Grand Prix live, on Channel 4 – the programming output from both broadcasters and the live on-track action will have a slightly different feel to it this year as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
All races will take place without fans in attendance and a limited number of personnel will be on-site in the pits and paddock area, with everyone entering the paddock tested for coronavirus regularly and observing social distancing.
Details of how to follow the 2020 Formula 1 season on the box can be found below, including Sky Sports and Channel 4 coverage plans, TV schedules and 2020 race calendar.
Further information, in-depth race schedules and live session timing are available via formula1.com.
Sky Sports will be the only place to watch every practice, qualifying and race day throughout the 2020 Formula 1 season on its dedicated F1 channel, all of which will be available to watch in Ultra HD for Sky Q customers.
The usual presentation team returns to cover all of the action on-site, led by presenter Simon Lazenby, race commentators David Croft and Martin Brundle (whose famous grid walks will be absent for the foreseeable future) and pit lane reporters Ted Kravitz and Rachel Brookes.
2009 world champion Jenson Button will also be part of the punditry team at the circuits this season, along with former F1 driver Paul di Resta, while other Sky Sports regulars, including former F1 drivers Anthony Davidson and Karun Chandhok, will also contribute to the live coverage remotely via Sky Studios in west London.
In addition to the coverage of every track session from each weekend on the Sky F1 channel, subscribers can also watch live coverage and in-race clips on the Sky Sports App.
The app features Sky Race Control – giving you access to on-board driver feeds, a mix feed, driver tracker and live timings. Race Control is also available via the Red Button on Sky Q and HD boxes.
Live streaming of all live sessions for Sky subscribers can also be found on the Sky Sports app or via Sky Go, while non-subscribers can stream Sky’s coverage online via NOW TV.
Sky Sports’ dedicated website – skysports.com/f1 – has all the latest news, interviews, features and video content, including previews and race highlights.
As well as all of the live F1 action this season, Sky Sports will also screen live coverage of all the support race action, including Formula 2, Formula 3 and the Porsche Super Cup.
Channel 4 will broadcast free-to-air highlights of every qualifying session and race throughout the 2020 Formula 1 season, plus live coverage of the British Grand Prix weekend on 31 July-2 August.
Steve Jones returns to present Channel 4’s coverage alongside former F1 winners David Coulthard and Mark Webber, but the on-screen team along with race commentator Ben Edwards will be based in the UK, with the highlights programmes being produced remotely.
The Channel 4 presenting team will be based at the Silverstone Experience museum for the opening race weekends of the season. They will be on-site for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, which is the only race weekend Channel 4 will be screening live this season.
The 70th anniversary race a week later, also at Silverstone, will not be shown live on terrestrial television, but Channel 4 will broadcast evening highlights of both qualifying and the race over the weekend of 7-9 August.
Channel 4’s Formula 1 coverage will again be produced by Whisper this season, who have been responsible of the broadcaster’s F1 output since it began covering the sport in 2016.
All programming will be broadcast in high definition and available to watch live or on-demand online via All 4, while the network’s official website – channel4.com/f1 – has all the latest news, highlights and video clips.
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Round 3 – HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX
FRIDAY 17th JULY
FREE PRACTICE 1
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FREE PRACTICE 2
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F1: Story So Far – Hungary
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SATURDAY 18th JULY
FREE PRACTICE 3
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QUALIFYING
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F1: Hungarian Grand Prix Qualifying
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SUNDAY 19th JULY
HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX
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F1: Hungarian Grand Prix
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3-5 JULY
Formula 1: Austrian Grand Prix
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10-12 JULY
Formula 1: Styrian Grand Prix
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17-19 JULY
Formula 1: Hungarian Grand Prix
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31 JULY – 2 AUGUST
Formula 1: British Grand Prix
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7-9 AUGUST
Formula 1: 70th Anniversary Grand Prix
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14-16 AUGUST
Formula 1: Spanish Grand Prix
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28-30 AUGUST
Formula 1: Belgian Grand Prix
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4-6 SEPTEMBER
Formula 1: Italian Grand Prix
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11-13 SEPTEMBER
Formula 1: Tuscany Grand Prix
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25-27 SEPTEMBER
Formula 1: Russian Grand Prix
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More races to be announced…
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