So you can watch Formula 1 races for free in the future
Max Verstappen’s mission of defending the title will be available free-to-air for the first time on May 21 at the Grand Prix in Imola
Those: Getty Images/Rudy Carezzevoli
Sky has not found a free-to-air television partner for Formula 1. The pay TV broadcaster must therefore first open two races to the general public. If there is no broadcaster who buys the free rights from Sky, there will probably be even more on the selected playback platform.
GGood news for the German Formula 1 fans. Sky has decided how to broadcast the free-to-air races this season. What’s new: the pay-TV broadcaster does not issue a sub-license to a free TV broadcaster for the racing series, but goes its own way. At least two races will be shown free of charge on the Sky Sport YouTube channel. They are also available on skysport.de and in the Sky Sport app – in addition to the paid broadcasts on Sky Sport F1 and WOW.
It starts on May 21st with the Grand Prix of Emilia Romagna in Imola (San Marino). The Hungary race on the Hungaro Ring on July 23 is set to be the second free TV Grand Prix.
In both transmissions, the Sky signal with commentator Sascha Roos and expert Ralf Schumacher also runs on the streaming platform – without commercial breaks. Reason: This is how you want to reach younger target groups who no longer turn on classic television and show them what Sky offers in Formula 1.
Four Formula 1 races must be free to air
Charly Classen, Sports Director Sky Germany, said: “Society is changing in its media use, streaming is becoming more relevant. We are reacting to these changes with the additional offer of Formula 1 live broadcasts via skysport.de, the Sky Sport app and on our Sky Sport DE YouTube channel. With our reporting, we see ourselves as ambassadors for a great sport and we want to share our enthusiasm with as many fans as possible.”
However, Sky is obliged to broadcast a total of four of the 23 races free-to-air. The broadcaster will determine at a later date how to proceed with the two outstanding free TV broadcasts. Last season, a partner station was found in RTL, but this time there was no customer who was willing to pay a corresponding sum. That has not been the case so far this year. So Sky was more or less forced to act.
