The British GP returns this weekend and eyes will be fixed on the two championship leaders following their collision at the Red Bull Ring.
Max Verstappen and Lando Norris were involved in a frantic battle for the lead last weekend, which ended with seven laps to go when they both suffered punctures after the McLaren driver attempted an overtake at Turn 3.
While championship leader Verstappen managed to continue and finish fifth, despite a 10-second penalty for causing the collision, the incident forced Norris to retire from the Austrian GP.
So, what will the fallout be at Norris’ home race which was won by Verstappen last year?
It is also a home race for Lewis Hamilton and winner of the Austrian GP George Russell, while this week’s news of Briton Oliver Bearman joining the grid in 2025 will no doubt please the usually vibrant Silverstone crowd.
The race is expected to be a thriller, as it often is, with Red Bull no longer as dominant as it once was so the battle for the lead should be close.
This begs the question: where can fans watch the British GP? Sky Sports is live broadcasting every session of F1 in 2024, but it often strikes a deal with Channel 4 to share rights for Silverstone.
Is the 2024 British Grand Prix live on Channel 4?
Channel 4 will broadcast the 2024 British GP live in what is the ninth consecutive year it has done so. This comes after budget cuts saw the BBC relinquish its contract three years early and give Channel 4 the rights to show F1 from 2016 to 2018.
During that period, 10 rounds of each season were broadcast live by Channel 4 while Sky Sports still showed every race as it had done since 2012.
But, in 2019 the subscription-based sports channel became the exclusive holder of F1 rights in the UK in what was a controversial move as it put every race bar one behind a paywall.
That ‘one’ being the British GP, as a deal was done to allow Channel 4 to live broadcast the race each season while only showing highlights of the rest of the grands prix.
This contract is due to expire at the end of 2026 for Channel 4, while Sky Sports will stay as the exclusive rights holder for F1 in the UK until at least 2029.
Channel 4 will begin this weekend’s live coverage with first practice on Friday where the platform is due to go on air at 12:25pm. Another programme will follow for second practice at 3:55pm, before Channel 4 returns at 11:25am on Saturday for FP3.
Channel 4 then commences its British GP qualifying coverage at 2pm on Saturday before running highlights of the session that night.
Its race coverage will then begin at 1:30pm on Sunday ahead of lights out at 3pm, while highlights will run later on. The British GP is also available via All 4, which is Channel 4’s live streaming platform.
Channel 4’s schedule for the 2024 British Grand Prix
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Date
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British Grand Prix session
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Channel 4’s coverage start time
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Session start time
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Friday 5 July
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Free Practice 1
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12:25pm BST
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12:30pm BST
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|
Friday 5 July
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Free Practice 2
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3:55pm BST
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4pm BST
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|
Saturday 6 July
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Free Practice 3
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11:25am BST
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11:30am BST
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Saturday 6 July
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Qualifying
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2pm BST
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3pm BST
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Saturday 6 July
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Qualifying highlights
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11:10pm BST
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N/A
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Sunday 7 July
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Race
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1:30pm BST
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3pm BST
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Sunday 7 July
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Race highlights
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11:30pm BST
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N/A
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Who is on Channel 4’s F1 coverage?
Channel 4’s F1 coverage is a production by the award-winning Whisper TV, who work across various sports like motorsport, football and tennis while producing content for organisations such as Amazon and the BBC as well.
The company was co-founded in 2010 by its CEO Sunil Patel, 13-time grand prix winner David Coulthard and Jake Humphrey, who presented BBC’s F1 coverage from 2009 to 2012.
Humphrey hasn’t transferred that role to Channel 4 though, as Steve Jones has fronted its F1 coverage since 2016 after presenting roles on the X Factor USA and Transmission, just to name a couple.
Jones works alongside Coulthard and former F1 team boss Eddie Jordan, who are both pundits for Channel 4 having previously held the same job for the BBC.
Mark Webber is a Channel 4 pundit as well, so the nine-time grand prix winner should be at Silverstone this weekend, just like Billy Monger who also holds that role and has been part of the coverage since 2019.
Monger first dovetailed the job with a campaign in the Euroformula Open Championship, but 2019 proved to be his final year of racing. In 2017, Monger had a life-threatening crash during a British F4 race at Donington Park which resulted in both legs being amputated, before he made a stunning comeback the following year with an adapted British F3 car.
The 25-year-old also serves as a co-commentator for Channel 4 as do Coulthard and Webber, while Alex Jacques, who also appears on F1 TV, leads the commentary.
Interviews in the paddock are also carried out by the likes of Lee McKenzie and Lawrence Barretto while Ruth Buscombe, former F1 strategist, appears on Channel 4 as an analyst.
