Formula 1 returns to Portugal for the first time since 1996 this weekend. Here’s how to watch the Portuguese Grand Prix on TV and online.
The race in Portimao this weekend will be the second new circuit F1 has visitied this year, so it’s another reason to watch even if you’re not the biggest Lewis Hamilton fan. Here’s what you need to know about tuning in to watch the practice sessions, qualifying and the race itself. The race will be held on Sunday 25 October starting at 13.10. Friday Practice 1 & 2: Sky Sports F1,11am,2.45pm Saturday Practice 3: Sky Sports F1,10.45am Saturday Qualifying: Sky Sports F1,1pm, Channel 4 (highlights),5.30pm Sunday Race: Coverage begins at 11.30am on Sky Sports F1. Channel 4 (highlights),6.30pm If you’re unable to get to a TV or record broadcasts, you can watch them later on Sky and Channel 4’s catch-up services. Highlights have been taking a long while to appear on All 4 – four hours or more after broadcast on Channel 4 – so it’s worth setting your DVR to record if you can. The remainder of the 2020 season sees Turkey’s first appearance on the calendar since 2011, a double-header in Bahrain followed by the final race of the year in Abu Dhabi. At some point F1 will almost certainly become a pay-to-watch sport. For the moment, however, you have the choice of watching on Channel 4 in the UK or paying for the F1 channel on Sky. Although Sky has the exclusive rights to show live races in the UK, highlights are available on Channel 4, which is a free-to-air TV channel. This arrangement runs until 2024, but there’s good news for fans because the latest deal (which has been agreed until the end of the 2022 season) means that extended highlights of both qualifying and races can be shown on Channel 4 only two and a half hours after the race ends, instead of the three-hour delay in 2019. (They won’t all be shown this soon – the Australian GP highlights will be broadcast on Sunday afternoon.) This means the whole show will last 2.5 hours instead of 2, and can cover 70 percent of the action. That equates to about an hour of actual racing rather than 45 minutes.
