BBC confirm ten live free-to-air races for 2013
2013 F1 season
The BBC have confirmed which of the ten races on the 2013 F1 calendar will be shown live.
The yet-to-be confirmed race on July 21st is among those the BBC plans to show live. It is not clear whether a different race will be chosen if that Grand Prix does not go ahead.
The Monaco Grand Prix, which was shown live this year, is among those which will not get live coverage in 2013. The Canadian Grand Prix, which was not shown live in 2012, will be next year.
As this year there will be delayed highlights of the races not shown live.
The BBC also announced Suzi Perry will take over from Jake Humphrey as the presenter of its F1 coverage. Perry, who has presented Moto GP for the last ten years, said: “Motorsport is my life and I’ve really missed being away from the grid. I am so excited to be joining the BBC. Working alongside such an eminent team and the F1 world is a huge honour and I can’t wait to get started.”
Update: As the ‘TBC’ race will not go ahead, BBC will only broadcast nine races live this year.
| Round | Race | Circuit | Date | Channel |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Australian Grand Prix | Albert Park | March 15 – 17 | Sky |
| 2 | Malaysian Grand Prix | Sepang International Circuit | March 22 – 24 | Sky |
| 3 | Chinese Grand Prix | Shanghai International Circuit | April 12 – 14 | BBC/Sky |
| 4 | Bahrain Grand Prix | Bahrain International Circuit | April 19 – 21 | Sky |
| 5 | Spanish Grand Prix | Circuit de Catalunya | May 10 – 12 | BBC/Sky |
| 6 | Monaco Grand Prix | Monte-Carlo | May 23 – 26 | Sky |
| 7 | Canadian Grand Prix | Circuit Gilles Villeneuve | June 7 – 9 | BBC/Sky |
| 8 | British Grand Prix | Silverstone | June 28 – 30 | BBC/Sky |
| 9 | German Grand Prix | TBC | July 5 – 7 | Sky |
| 10 | TBC | TBC | July 19 – 21 | BBC/Sky |
| 11 | Hungarian Grand Prix | Hungaroring | July 26 – 28 | Sky |
| 12 | Belgian Grand Prix | Spa-Francorchamps | August 23 – 25 | BBC/Sky |
| 13 | Italian Grand Prix | Monza | September 6 – 8 | BBC/Sky |
| 14 | Singapore Grand Prix | Singapore | September 20 – 22 | Sky |
| 15 | Korean Grand Prix | Korean International Circuit | October 4 – 6 | Sky |
| 16 | Japanese Grand Prix | Suzuka | October 11 – 13 | BBC/Sky |
| 17 | Indian Grand Prix | Buddh International Circuit | October 25 – 27 | BBC/Sky |
| 18 | Abu Dhabi Grand Prix | Yas Marina | November 1 – 3 | Sky |
| 19 | United States Grand Prix | Circuit of the Americas | November 15 – 17 | Sky |
| 20 | Brazilian Grand Prix | Interlagos | November 22 – 24 | BBC/Sky |
2013 F1 season
- Ferrari one-two in Spanish GP Driver of the Weekend
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- 2013 Monaco Grand Prix practice in pictures
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Browse all 2013 F1 season articles
Nickrbtson (@pwaa) said on 21st December 2012, 13:19
China?! SPAIN?! What are the BBC thinking? I’d have Monaco, Oz, US, even Abu Dhabi or Singapore over those two! Just because there were surprise winners last year does not mean they’re suddenly must have races! Poor choices by the BBC. Still, 6 of their races are good. Not sure about the TBA one, depends where it ends up being…
Ilanin (@ilanin) said on 21st December 2012, 13:41
You appear not to know that the way these races are sorted out is that the BBC and Sky take turns to pick three races each, with the Beeb going first.
Jeff Bird (@jedoublef91) said on 31st January 2013, 11:32
I’m guessing they would have took Brazil 1st too.
Imre (@f1mre) said on 21st December 2012, 18:36
China is one of the best venues. Always exciting races there.
PJ (@pjtierney) said on 21st December 2012, 13:20
I’m guessing the same agreement of “no 3 races in a row” (either Sky exclusive or available on BBC) applies this season, which is why Monaco isn’t live.
Bendanarama (@bendana) said on 21st December 2012, 13:21
They’ve dropped bloody MONACO? Of all the races to drop? Christ.
Ilanin (@ilanin) said on 21st December 2012, 13:42
Because it’s usually incredibly boring? Seems like a good choice to get rid of to me.
John H (@john-h) said on 21st December 2012, 15:36
Monaco can only be ‘boring’ when you fall out of love with motorsport.
Goodness Me (@goodness-me) said on 21st December 2012, 13:45
I’m fine with Monaco being dropped, especially in favour of Canada. Yes, it’s one of the most historical events and qualifying is admittedly great to watch as drivers push the limits of the circuit, but it’s often a dull, dull race unless rain enters the equation. It’s one of the few races that I’d rather watch a highlights package of than the whole thing.
Mike (@mike) said on 21st December 2012, 14:08
I couldn’t bring myself to miss Monaco.
Ilanin (@ilanin) said on 21st December 2012, 14:57
It occurs to me that actually the biggest problem the BBC will have with dropping Monaco is – how do you do a highlights package for a race in which nothing happens?
John H (@john-h) said on 21st December 2012, 15:39
You admire the beauty of the cars racing around the same streets as Fangio and Moss. By nothing happens I presume you mean ‘overtakes’. Personally, I couldn’t care less if there isn’t an ‘overtake’ in the next 10 grand prix at Monaco, I will still love watching the race (on an suitable internet stream now it turns out) and everything that comes with it.
OldIron said on 21st December 2012, 16:16
You could try playing the highlights package 3 times in a row to get the effect of a full race length?
(sorry couldn’t resist :) )
John H (@john-h) said on 22nd December 2012, 15:17
I probably will !!
gwenouille (@gwenouille) said on 21st December 2012, 14:18
And rightly so… Don’t like that GP. I wouldn’t have picked it myself.
petebaldwin (@petebaldwin) said on 21st December 2012, 19:47
They can’t have 3 in a row on BBC and therefore, to have Monaco, they’d have had to drop Canada or Silverstone……
Out of those 3, I think they made the right choice. The only exciting part of Monaco is the qualifying anyway.
Magnificent Geoffrey (@magnificent-geoffrey) said on 21st December 2012, 13:21
No Monaco live? :(
Racer (@racer) said on 21st December 2012, 14:03
Canada is a usually a much more exciting race, plus the highlights would be at an inconvenient time if it wasn’t live, so between Monaco and Canada I’d choose Canada every time…
peter-g-h said on 21st December 2012, 14:43
But Monaco is considered the biggest, most prestigious event of the f1 season. Its the race all the drivers talk about wanting to win the most because of the history & challenge of the race.
Since I want to see Monaco live (And don’t really like Suzi Perry) Im subscribing to sky early next year & will not be watching the BBC coverage at all!
asingh1 (@asingh1) said on 21st December 2012, 16:32
It also normally produces terrible racing that flatters even Abu Dhabi
peter-g-h said on 21st December 2012, 16:50
Watching cars fly around Monaco is never boring!
bertie (@bertie) said on 21st December 2012, 14:21
Or australia – opening gp is pretty important.
Sphinx (@sphinx) said on 21st December 2012, 15:24
I don’t think most of the BBC’s target group would vhatch it live anyway because it is on so early in the morning.
Bleeps_and_Tweaks (@bleeps_and_tweaks) said on 21st December 2012, 19:30
I can understand Monaco to be honest. But I’m really surprised they’ve not gone for; Singapore – a real must these days in F1 as the only night race and the fanfare around it; and the US Grand Prix – a roaring success in it’s first year, and the track looks like it will always deliver a good race.
Surely either of these, or Monaco of course, would be better than the TBA?!
Optimaximal (@optimaximal) said on 21st December 2012, 21:09
As mentioned, heads of both BBC F1 and Sky F1 pick the races in turn, 3 at a time.
The BBC promised, from day 0 of this deal, to always have the final race (be it Brazil, Abu Dhabi or elsewhere) along with Silverstone. That’s two gone. They probably picked Spa along with that block, because its always a great race, doesn’t require mad scheduling and is the first after the summer break.
Sky probably lept on Monaco as a result (the BBC confirmed that as a ‘guaranteed event’ along with the aforementioned ones in 2012), given the mentioned prestige, even though this years race was fairly poor. They also probably took the US race again, because it turned out to be very good. They probably also picked AUS, because that’s usually an good race with lots of interest because its the first time the cars turn a wheel in anger, which is a good sell for the TV package. The BBC don’t want it, because it’s a bad race to schedule.
The BBC probably then took Canada, Japan and Italy, the three big ‘classic’ races they were criticised for missing this year. Given they [the BBC] aren’t allowed 3 consecutive live races, it probably all fell in place shortly afterwards.
Vic (@hendrix666) said on 22nd December 2012, 3:13
Interesting to see the differing opinions. I get to watch every race live so dont have to make that hard decision. Both sides have very valid arguments!
Euro Brun (@eurobrun) said on 21st December 2012, 13:22
If the TBA never happens, do BBC get a race back?
Also quite pleased with Suzi Perry as the presenter choice, but I think there’ll be a lot of people unhappy with an ex-Superbikes presenter. I reckon she’s feisty enough to give Eddie Jordan some stick.
KeeleyObsessed (@keeleyobsessed) said on 21st December 2012, 13:23
Quite a few big surprises there…
Firstly, Monaco. I’d have thought that this race would’ve been near the top of BBC’s list, considering it’s one of the ‘Blue Ribbon’ events that fans enjoy seeing on the calendar.
Secondly, they’ve taken a punt on the TBA GP, this could turn out to be a complete farce. Although, we laughed when the beeb said they were showing China, Valencia and Abu Dhabi live, and they were some of the best races of the year!
Finally, the biggest shame of them all. Suzi Perry instead of Lee McKenzie. I have nothing against Suzi, I think she’ll be great in the role. But I’m struggling to see why Lee McKenzie didn’t get the role. She already filled the main role when Jake was away on other commitments this year, and has gained a lot of respect in the paddock. I hope Suzi does well (A return for the catsuit?)
Becca Cann (@beshoreblue) said on 21st December 2012, 13:44
I imagine Lee McKenzie was kind of a victim of her own success, in that she’s so good as a reporter/interviewer that they didn’t want to move her from that role (maybe?). Either way, interested to see how well Suzi Perry does. She was good doing the MotoGP.
Sphinx (@sphinx) said on 21st December 2012, 15:27
Do you think Lee would want to be in such a leading role? I always fashioned her as someone who loves it to be right in the middle of the action and doing a great job ”backstage”.
Master firelee (@master-firelee) said on 21st December 2012, 13:38
Why don’t they have Australia, I like watching the opening round live!
Max Jacobson (@vettel1) said on 21st December 2012, 14:12
@master-firelee I’m guessing that’s due to the fact Sky have chosen to have exclusive live coverage of it. Quite why they have chosen to have the Bahrian, Abu Dhabi and Korean GP’s is beyond me though, unless of course they were left with those as I believe that as @ilanin has said the BBC get 3 picks for live coverage, then Sky…
Ilanin (@ilanin) said on 21st December 2012, 14:51
I wonder if we can resurrect how the draft went. Probably something like this:
The BBC go first and pick Brazil, Silverstone and I guess maybe Spa. Sky, going with the strategy they used last year of taking the first two rounds, pick Australia, Malaysia and Monaco. The BBC grab Canada, Italy and Japan and Sky take the US, Singapore and Germany. The BBC go for China, Spain and India, leaving Sky with Abu Dhabi, Korea and Hungary, and then finally the BBC decide that quite possibly not having a race at all is a better bet than Bahrain.
Max Jacobson (@vettel1) said on 21st December 2012, 15:34
That looks about right @ilanin but what has always confused me is why the BBC wouldn’t want live coverage of the season opener, unless of course they feel because of the very early start time in Britain that it would have a minimal audience so would rather broadcast later in the day to a wider audience.
James_mc (@james_mc) said on 21st December 2012, 19:42
It does give opportunity for the highlights to be at a “normal” time, however getting up at 3/4am for the Australian GP is one of the highlights of the season for me :-)
petebaldwin (@petebaldwin) said on 21st December 2012, 19:59
It’s simple, they would want the first race but they’d have lost out on a really big one. If they went for Australia, Sky could have gone in with Canada, Spa and Monaco and suddenly, the BBC’s schedule looks rubbish!
Because they left the first 2 alone, Sky picked them and it’s allowed the BBC to get a decent few better races. Sky would always aim for the first races as it gives them a better chance of getting subscribers in on a 12 months contract.
Becca Cann (@beshoreblue) said on 21st December 2012, 13:49
Well, I’m happier with this than last year’s…in an ideal world I’d have Australia and the US instead of TBC and India, but at least we’ve got Monza this time round. After last year I can’t confidently call which races are going to be boring/exciting anyway.
Gilles De Wilde (@gdewilde) said on 21st December 2012, 13:52
1) I’m glad Monaco is not on the list!
I want to stay awake during a BBC broadcast and the Monaco GP is just so boring to watch as a race.
2) Why are they broadcasting the Indian GP?? these 2011/12 Gp’s turned out to be even more boring than the Monaco GP of 2012… overtakes in the DRS zone and that’s that!
Optimaximal (@optimaximal) said on 21st December 2012, 21:12
They probably had to take India as a result of the draw process. By the same measure, Sky probably didn’t want to waste an exclusive on it.
matt90 (@matt90) said on 21st December 2012, 13:53
I can’t believe they didn’t make sure to secure the 1st race. It may be on at an awkward time, but the first round is often incredibly interesting, even if the quality of the race itself is found lacking. I would also have thought it would be good to pull in casual fans interested in seeing the opening of the season, not to mention real fans, who I imagine are surprised and annoyed like me.
Optimaximal (@optimaximal) said on 21st December 2012, 21:14
The formal process for allocating the races likely meant they’d lose Spa. Which would you rather?
Casual Fans won’t get up at 3/4am for it anyway – competent planning/editing can get just as much information across as Sky’s drawn out coverage.
matt90 (@matt90) said on 23rd December 2012, 12:20
I’d rather Australia.
Racer (@racer) said on 21st December 2012, 14:01
Glad that Canada is going to be live as having late night highlights is incredibly problematic for due to my busy schedule that time of year, which makes it impossible to watch the highlights when they’re broadcast, not to mention the fact that it’s usually a great race. Shame they aren’t showing Austin for the same reason, although my November schedule isn’t as bad.
davidnotcoulthard said on 21st December 2012, 14:08
Hmmmm……one can always look for streams….perhaps of channels not in English, but basically “imports” an English coverage live (I do know that there is at least 1 example: Indonesian Kompas TV (Which, by the way, happens to be free-to-air)- which takes coverage from ESPN HD and also allows streaming, at http://www.kompas.tv/live/ , I know they did air f1 in 2012… ). I don’t live in Britain, though, and I’ve got no idea if the link I gave is legal there – at all (so if it happens to be illegal I hope Keith removes this post as soon as he can…..).
davidnotcoulthard said on 21st December 2012, 14:18
…anyway does anyone think that the TBA race will be one in the USA (Breaking BE’s promise of 1 race/nation, which he was going to break anyway), possibly Laguna Seca or
SonomaInfineon, both of which reminding me of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYyq4lTvJNE , though both circuits are much further north. Indy also comes to my mind. We’ll see…….we’ll see.Optimaximal (@optimaximal) said on 21st December 2012, 21:17
Are either track up to FIA F1 racing standard?
Also, streaming foreign channels is a grey area – it’s up to the broadcaster to honour any deals they have with FOM. If they’re not ip-blocking their streams, the fans can’t be blamed for using them.
StefMeister (@stefmeister) said on 21st December 2012, 14:12
Surprised they didn’t get Monaco.
OK its not often the most exciting of racing from an action/overtaking standpoint, However it is one of the most historic races in F1, Its the race teams/drivers always talk about been the one to win & is considered the jewel in F1′s crown.
I personally love Monaco, I love watching the cars inches from the walls & love the challenge of the place. Its totally different to anything else & I really like that aspect. The difficulties in overtaking there don’t bother me as I look to other things & it also makes the overtaking you do see stand out that extra bit more.
If I didn’t have sky, I’d be really ****** off about not been able to watch Monaco live.
Regarding Suzi Perry, Surprising pick considering they had lee McKenzie who I’ve always felt they have under-used. Suzi isn’t necessarily a bad choice, However whenever I’ve heard her talking about F1 in the past she hasn’t exactly come across as someone overly keen on F1 or as someone who watches F1 a great deal.
John H (@john-h) said on 21st December 2012, 15:42
That’s me right now $:)
GT_Racer said on 21st December 2012, 14:31
Stunned BBC lost Monaco as it was always a race that drew a big ratings number & the race which tended to attract a lot of more casual viewers.
I can see Sky been ecstatic they have Monaco as one of there exclusive’s & expect them to use that in there advertising.
Also surprised they went with Suzi Perry who is not an F1 fan & has taken every opportunity in the past to take shots at F1 in order to promote the bike racing which is her real passion.
xjr15jaaag (@xjr15jaaag) said on 21st December 2012, 15:00
Why didn’t the BBC show the highlights for the far east races, including Australia, maybe some hioghlights for the European races, and then the far western races live?
That way, they’d have more viewers as Europe is arguably F1s largest fan-base, and the races would be on at a sensible time; if highlights of a race normally on at 5.30pm are shown, it’d be on at 10pm or so which will restrict their audience dramatically; people have work and school to go to, and it’d effectively alienate F1 from the younger viewers.
For example:
Australia: Highlights
malaysia: Live
China: Highlights
Bahrain: Highlights
Spain: Highlights
Monaco: Live
Canada: Live
Britain: Highlights
Germany: Live
TBC: Live
Hungary: Highlights
Belgium: Live
Italy: Highlights
Singapore: Live
Korea: Live
japan: Highlights
India: Highlights
Abu Dhabi: Highlights
America: Live
Brazil: Live
Just a rough mock-up, but for the largest amount of viewers possible, this would be one of the best solutions.
BenH (@benh) said on 21st December 2012, 16:35
The British Broadcasting Corporation having the British Grand Prix airing in Britain as highlights? I doubt that would ever happen
xjr15jaaag (@xjr15jaaag) said on 21st December 2012, 18:51
I know, but as i said, it is only a mock-up representing the sort of races to be shown live in relation to time zones.
Ratboy (@ratboy) said on 21st December 2012, 21:12
they can’t have 3 races in a row as highlights either..
xjr15jaaag (@xjr15jaaag) said on 22nd December 2012, 16:25
I thought it was 3 live races in a row.
Either way, FTA should be given a bit more flexibility to attract the greatest audience possible to keep F1 alive in most age groups