Channel 4 are the current terrestrial British broadcasters of Formula One races, holding the rights alongside Sky Sports F1. Channel 4's first race was the 2016 Australian Grand Prix, and they will host one of the 17 races scheduled for 2020 live and the rest with extended highlights.
With the BBC looking to make cost cuts in late 2015, they decided to cut F1 from the programming and passed on the remaining three years of the contract to Channel 4, who agreed to run the races without commercial breaks.[1] On 12 February 2016, it was confirmed that the coverage's intro would include Fleetwood Mac's song "The Chain" like the BBC's coverage intros,[2] and the complete line-up was announced on 8 March 2016, having some of the people part of the BBC's latest line-up.[3][4] On 12 September 2018, Channel 4 and Sky announced a deal for 2019 that would have Channel 4 broadcast the 2019 British Grand Prix live and show free-to-air highlights of the twenty remaining races of 2019, while Sky would broadcast every race live.[5][6][7] On 13 March 2019, Channel 4 were confirmed to not be having interviews on the "pen" and in the pit lane, nor do grid walks.[8] Their 2019 intro also does not use "The Chain".
Channel 4 first looked to take the exclusive rights of Formula 1 back in 2011, but failed when Sky and BBC put a higher bid in.
2020 races[]
These are the races that Channel 4 did show live in 2020.
| Round | Race | Date |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | British Grand Prix | August 2 |
Line-up[]
To be completed
| Role | Name | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Anchor | David Coulthard | 2016–present (Except the 2019 Azerbaijan Grand Prix and 2019 Russian Grand Prix, being replaced by Jordan and Allan McNish respectively) |
| Steve Jones | 2016–present | |
| Pit Lane Reporter | Karun Chandhok | 2016–2018 |
| Paddock Reporter | Lee McKenzie | 2016-Present |
| Holly Samos | 2016–present (Selected races only, filling in for McKenzie)[9] | |
| Lead Commentator | Ben Edwards | 2016–2020 |
| Alex Jacques | 2021-Present | |
| Co-Commentator | David Coulthard | 2016–present (Except the 2019 Azerbaijan Grand Prix and 2019 Japanese Grand Prix, being replaced by Webber, and the 2019 Russian Grand Prix, being replaced by McNish) |
| Jolyon Palmer | 2023-Present | |
| Billy Monger | 2021-Present | |
| Analyst | Mark Webber | 2016–present (Live races only) |
| Susie Wolff | 2016–2018 (Live races only) | |
| Eddie Jordan | 2016–present (Some live races only) | |
| Technical Analyst | Karun Chandhok | 2016–2018 |
Nicolas Hamilton, Bruno Senna, Alain Prost, Alex Zanardi, Murray Walker have also been part of the team.[3][4]
See also[]
- Sky Sports F1, who host all the races live on pay television
- BBC Sport F1
- ITV-F1
Notes[]
- ↑ "Channel 4 becomes terrestrial home of Formula 1". Channel 4. 21 December 2015. http://www.channel4.com/info/press/news/channel-4-becomes-terrestrial-home-of-formula-1?hootPostID=dde274dfb372ab4d0ede906f68a35e34. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
- ↑ Duncan, Philip (12 February 2016). "Formula One coverage on Channel 4 to retain iconic Fleetwood Mac 'The Chain' title music". Daily Mail (DMG Media). http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/formulaone/article-3444311/Formula-One-coverage-Channel-4-retain-iconic-Fleetwood-Mac-Chain-title-music.html. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Channel 4 unveils expert Formula 1® presenting team". Channel 4. 8 March 2016. http://www.channel4.com/info/press/news/channel-4-unveils-expert-formula-1-presenting-team. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Kalinauckas, Alex (8 March 2016). "Channel 4 reveals "dream team" for 2016 Formula 1 UK TV presenters". James Allen on F1 (James Allen). http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2016/03/channel-4-reveals-dream-team-for-2016-formula-1-uk-tv-presenters/. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
- ↑ "British Grand Prix to be shown live on Channel 4 and Sky in 2019". BBC Sport. 12 September 2018. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/45494135. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
- ↑ "Free-to-air F1 in new Sky/C4 partnership". a516digital. 12 September 2018. http://www.a516digital.com/2018/09/free-to-air-f1-in-new-skyc4-partnership.html. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
- ↑ Benson, Andrew (8 July 2018). "British Grand Prix: All you need to know before the race at Silverstone". BBC Sport (BBC). https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/44753980. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
- ↑ Andrew Benson (13 March 2019). "Formula 1 2019: A new era for the sport on television as well as on track". BBC News. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/47542802. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
- ↑ "Holly Samos Twitter (9:18 am - 30 Jun 2016 Tweet)". Twitter. 30 June 2016. https://twitter.com/hollysamos/status/748551396467802113. Retrieved 11 July 2016.