BRISTOL, Conn. –Â As ESPN begins its second year of coverage of the FIA Formula One World Championship, the offerings are expanding with two new race week programs joining the telecast schedule for all 21 races.
The new season launches this week with the Formula One Rolex Australian Grand Prix from the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit.
The live telecast of the Australian Grand Prix will air Sunday, March 17, at 1:05 a.m. ET on ESPN. The On the Grid pre-race show will precede the race at 12:30 a.m. Live coverage of the weekend’s three practice sessions and qualifying also will air on ESPN platforms.
ESPN is again teaming with Sky Sports and Formula One to bring Sky Sports’ presentation of Formula One racing to American viewers. New this season will be Sky’s Welcome to the Weekend program, which will air on Thursdays of race weekends on ESPN3. The half-hour show previews the race with driver interviews as well as commentary and analysis from the Sky team. The Australia edition will expand to an hour and will air at 3 a.m. ET on Thursday, March 14, with replays available on the ESPN App.
Also part of ESPN’s expanded F-1 coverage this year will be Sky’s Pit Lane Live, a one-hour program airing on race day. Pit Lane Live features the Sky F-1 commentators discussing the upcoming race and all the latest news from the paddock, with the show also including feature stories. Pit Lane Live from Australia will air at 11:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 16, on ESPN3, also streaming on the ESPN App.
The Sky Sports team has been bolstered with the addition of 2009Â Formula One champion Jenson Button, joining fellow F-1 champions Damon Hill and Nico Rosberg as Sky commentators. David Croft returns in the lead announcer position for the race telecasts.
Retired F-1 driver Martin Brundle also returns to the Sky team as an analyst and for his popular pre-race grid walk. Also, drivers Johnny Herbert, Anthony Davidson and Paul di Resta continue their roles as analysts with the Sky team, with Karun Chandhok rejoining the commentary team this year.
ESPN will once again air the Formula One races commercial-free with sponsorship from Mothers Polish.
Prior to the Australian Grand Prix weekend, a Formula One season launch preview program will air live on Wednesday, March 13, at 2:10 a.m. ET on ESPN3. The 50-minute program, produced by Formula One Media, will be available for replay via the ESPN App.
The 2018 season marked the return of Formula one to ESPN and ABC on American television and fans tuned in, making F-1 the only major racing series to see year-over-year viewership growth in the U.S. for the season. Formula one was back to its original U.S. television home – the first race aired in the country was on ABC in 1962. F-1 races also aired on ESPN from 1984-1997.