The second race of the 2023 Formula 1 season is here; Saudi Arabian Grand Prix is scheduled for March 19, with FP1 starting from March 17.
Red Bull Racing had an epic start to the season with its 1-2 finish at Bahrain Grand Prix. RB19 looks strong, even stronger than its 2022 car, and it will be looking forward to keeping the momentum going, as Max Verstappen is looking forward to taking home his 3rd championship this year.
Aston Martin and Fernando Alonso also had an epic start to the season, securing the third spot on the podium. AMR already has scored almost half as points as its previous season from the first race. The Saudi Arabian GP will show if the AMR’s strong pace is a one-off thing or if it is really in the top 3.
Conversely, Ferrari faced a DNF on Charles LeClerc’s car and found itself out of the top 3. Last season, Ferrari scored a 1-2 in the first race. Ferrari will be aiming to come back stronger in Saudi.
Mercedes, the team that dominated the better part of the last decade, has been in an unfavourable position. It only scored one win last season, and it seems like the situation hasn’t improved. Its champion driver Lewis Hamilton has been very vocal about his disappointment.
You need to live stream the races to catch all the action in Formula 1. Unfortunately, Formula 1 will not be telecast on TV for this season.
Let’s talk about how to watch Formula 1 in India, what happened with the live telecast on TV, and more in this post.
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Where To Watch Formula 1 Saudi Arabian GP Live Streaming In India?
Formula 1 used to be live-streamed on Disney+ Hotstar. But if you’ve tried to live stream the Formula 1 races by searching for it, you will only find the Formula E races in the search results. Hotstar has also removed the option of Formula 1 under the Sports section in their app and website.
What happened was Formula 1 decided not to renew the TV and streaming rights with Star Sports and Disney+ Hotstar. Autocar India reports that Formula 1 felt the money the networks such as Star and Zee offered for this year’s Formula 1 TV rights was insufficient. Ian Holmes – Director of Media Rights and Content Creation at Formula 1, said, “We looked at the more traditional channels and platforms. Star was one of them. We had discussions with Zee and one or two others too. I want to be candid about this – we felt that the valuation of many of those parties placed on our property wasn’t similar to what we felt it was worth.”
Which TV Channel is F1 On In India?
Formula 1 isn’t being live telecast on any TV channels in India. It has been live telecast on Star Sports since 2012, and this year, it doesn’t have the rights to live telecast Formula 1.
How To Watch F1 Live Streaming In India?
Formula 1 has launched its own OTT platform F1 TV in India to live stream Formula 1. It wasn’t available in India till last month, as the company failed to come to agreements with any sports TV networks in India; F1 has decided to go with its own streaming service for India.
F1 TV Pro
F1 TV is Formula 1’s own live streaming app which live streams F1 races. It also has the complete backlog of Formula 1 races from previous years. It also has various shows on the platform, such as Tech Talk, Radio Rewind, Weekend Warm-Up, Jolyon Palmer’s Analysis, and more. Then there are various Formula 1 documentary. F1 TV Pro also comes with access to content from the Formula 1 feeder series: F2 and F3. It also gives you access to Porsche Super Cup.
F1 TV Pro: Pricing
F1 TV Pro subscription costs Rs 299 per month or Rs 2499 per year.
F1 TV Pro: Features
- Watch F1 live – Stream practice sessions, qualifying and the races.
- Onboard cameras – Choose live onboard cameras of any driver at any time.
- Team Radio – Listen to the live radio of every driver.
- Live leaderboard data – Know who improves the time sector by sector.
- Real-time telemetry – Live telemetry feeds from every car.
- Best clips of Team Radio – Listen to all the best team radio.
- Live driver maps – Track where every car is at the track live.
- Tyre usage history – Follow the tyre changes closely.
F1 TV Pro: Available Devices
- Computer – via the F1 TV website
- Tablets – iPad and Android tablets
- Phone – Android and iPhone
- Smart TV – Android TV, Google TV, Fire TV, Apple TV & Roku
Unfortunately, the F1 TV app isn’t currently available for Samsung and LG TVs. You can try casting from F1 TV mobile app to your Samsung and LG TVs to watch F1 live streaming.
F1 TV Access: What is it?
The F1 TV app also has a different subscription tier called F1 TV Access. This subscription doesn’t come with live streaming of F1 races. Instead, it only carries delayed replays.
It also doesn’t come with live onboards or team radio. Not only that, you won’t get access to F2, F3 and Porsche Super Cup.
It costs Rs 239 per month or Rs 1,629 per year.
How To Watch Formula 1 Live Streaming For Free?
Believe it or not, Formula 1 is being live-streamed for free in Austria and Luxembourg. So if you have a VPN subscription that supports either of these countries, you can watch Formula 1 for free without paying for the F1 TV Pro subscription. You’d be paying for your VPN subscription, though.
Here are the links to the free live streaming of Formula 1 from other countries:
You can use premium VPN apps like NordVPN, Express VPN or PureVPN. All of these apps support servers in Austria and Luxembourg.
Formula 1 Saudi Arabian GP Schedule
| Date | Event | Time (IST) |
| March 17 (Friday) | Free Practice 1 | 07:00 PM – 08:00 PM |
| March 17 (Friday) | Free Practice 2 | 10:30 PM -11:30 PM |
| March 18 (Saturday) | Free Practice 3 | 07:30 PM -08:30 PM |
| March 18 (Saturday) | Qualifying session | 10:30 PM -11:30 PM |
| March 19 (Sunday) | Race | 10:30 PM -12:30 AM |
Formula 1 2023 Season Schedule
Here are the race dates for the complete Formula 1 2023 season:
| GP | DATE | TIME |
| Bahrain GP | March 05 | 8:30 PM |
| Saudi Arabian GP | March 19 | 10:30 PM |
| Australian GP | April 02 | 10:30 AM |
| Azerbaijan GP | April 30 | 4:30 PM |
| Miami GP | May 08 | 1:00 AM |
| Emilia Romagna GP | May 21 | 6:30 PM |
| Monaco GP | May 28 | 6:30 PM |
| Spanish GP | June 04 | 6:30 PM |
| Canadian GP | June 18 | 11:30 PM |
| Austrian GP | July 02 | 6:30 PM |
| British GP | July 09 | 7:30 PM |
| Hungarian GP | July 23 | 6:30 PM |
| Belgian GP | July 30 | 6:30 PM |
| Dutch GP | August 27 | 6:30 PM |
| Italian GP | September 03 | 6:30 PM |
| Singapore GP | September 17 | 5:30 PM |
| Japanese GP | September 24 | 10:30 AM |
| Qatar GP | October 08 | 7:30 PM |
| United States GP | October 23 | 12:30 AM |
| Mexico City GP | October 30 | 1:30 AM |
| Brazilian GP | November 05 | 10:30 PM |
| Las Vegas GP | November 19 | 9:30 AM |
| Abu Dhabi GP | November 26 | 6:30 PM |
Formula 1 2023 Car And Driver Line Ups
| Team | Driver 1 | Driver 2 |
| Red Bull | Max Verstappen (#1) | Sergio Perez (#11) |
| Ferrari | Charles Leclerc (#16) | Carlos Sainz (#55) |
| Mercedes | Lewis Hamilton (#44) | George Russell (#63) |
| McLaren | Lando Norris (#4) | Oscar Piastri (#42) |
| Alpine | Esteban Ocon (#31) | Pierre Gasly (#10) |
| Alfa Romeo | Valtteri Bottas (#77) | Zhou Guanyu (#22) |
| Aston Martin | Fernando Alonso (#14) | Lance Stroll (#18) |
| Haas | Kevin Magnussen (#20) | Nico Hulkenberg (#27) |
| Scuderia AlphaTauri | Yuki Tsunoda(#22) | Nyck De Vries(#25) |
| Williams | Alex Albon(#23) | Logan Sargeant(#24) |
Frequently Asked Questions
Why isn’t Formula 1 streaming on Disney+ Hotstar?
Formula 1 isn’t streaming on Disney+ Hotstar because Formula 1 and Hotstar wasn’t able to come to an agreement regarding the streaming rights of F1.
Why isn’t Formula 1 not live telecast on Star Sports?
Formula 1 did not sign any contract with any TV networks in the country, and decided to go at it alone with F1 TV Pro.
Can I Watch Formula 2 & Formula 3 on F1 TV Pro?
Yes, F1 TV Pro gives you access to content from F2, F3 and Porsche Super Cup.
