How to watch the Austrian Grand Prix: Live stream the second race of the F1 2020 season this weekend
Can this weekend's Austrian Grand Prix live up to the excitement that unfolded last weekend at the same venue?
Valtteri Bottas won the first race of the F1 2020 season at Austria last weekend after a dramatic finish that saw his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton penalised five seconds after contact with Red Bull Racing’s Alex Albon.
With just a few days’ break, teams regroup for the second Austrian Grand Prix this weekend. The best way to watch the race in the UK is to get Sky Sports, buy a Now TV Sky Sports Pass, or subscribe to F1 TV.
For the first 71 laps of the first race of the 2020 F1 season, it looked like it was going to be a comfortable Mercedes top-two on the podium, but drama ensued in the final 10 laps as Hamilton was handed his penalty on Lap 61, thereby leading Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and McLaren’s Lando Norris to finish second and third position, ahead of Hamilton.
The second Austrian Grand Prix this weekend will be immediately followed by the Hungarian Grand Prix next weekend, after which teams will get the first break of the season. This will then be followed by two British Grands Prix on successive weekends in August, the second of which will be the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix of the famed track.
There are only three more confirmed races in the current Formula 1 calendar after the British Grand Prix. However, if everything goes smoothly, more races will be added to different locations in the near future.
How to watch the Austrian Grand Prix: Practice, Qualifying and Race times
The Austrian Grand Prix takes place from 10-12 July 2020 and is broadcast live on Sky Sports Formula One in the UK.
Friday, 10 July
- Coverage of Practice 1 begins at 9:30am, for a 10am start.
- Coverage of Practice 2 begins at 1:45pm, for a 2pm start.
Saturday, 11 July
- Coverage of Practice 3 begins at 10:45am, for a 11am start.
- Qualifying coverage begins at 1:30pm, for a 2pm start.
Sunday, 12 July
Coverage of The Austrian Grand Prix begins at 1pm, with the second race of the season starting at 2:10pm.
How to watch the Austrian Grand Prix in the UK: Sky Sports
Sky Sports will broadcast the Austrian Grand Prix via its Sky Sports F1 channel. You can’t watch this without a Sky Sports subscription but there are a number of options to choose from to get access. If you’re keen to watch more than a couple of F1 races, and are also interested in other sports including football and golf, we’d recommend signing up for a Sky Q box and getting the Sky Sports Channels as part of a package. For new customers, a Sky Q box on its own costs £22/mth for 18 months, plus a £20 setup fee.
The Sky Sports package, which includes all eight of its sports channels, is then £22/mth for the same contract length. Existing customers can upgrade to the Sky Sports package but it will cost them £30/mth, rather than £23.
You can, alternatively, just sign up for a Sky Sports F1 channel for £10/mth on top of your Sky Q package and this price is for both new and existing customers. If you’re new to Sky and want to get Sky TV and Sky Sports F1, you can get them both for just £35/mnth.
The benefit of getting a Sky Q package, beyond access to 300 other Sky TV channels, is it’s the only way to watch Sky Sports in Ultra HD, as long as you have an Ultra HD-ready TV. Sky Q viewers can also watch F1 in split-screen mode, meaning you can go on board with a driver on one window while watching the main race on another.
How to watch the Austrian Grand Prix in the UK: Now TV Sports Pass
If you’d rather not commit to such a long contract, or just want to watch select races and sporting events, the best way is with a Now TV Sky Sports Pass. Now TV offers a selection of passes based on what you want to watch; to watch the Austrian Grand Prix, you’ll need a Sky Sports Pass. There are two Sky Sports passes available, to suit how much sport you want to watch.
- Sky Sports Day Pass for £9.99
- Sky Sports Month Pass for £33.99
Plus, once you have a Sky Sports subscription, you can follow every race via the Race Control feature on the Sky Sports app or via Sky Go. Race Control, on the Sky Sports app on iOS and Android, broadcasts every minute of Formula 1 2020’s track action. The Sky Go app streams races live and in full.
How to watch the Austrian Grand Prix Highlights in the UK: Channel 4
As has been the case for the last four years, Channel 4 will air race highlights from every Grand Prix throughout the 2020 season. You can access these via the All 4 player on your laptop, mobile or other devices, or through the All 4 app on your TV box.
How to watch the Austrian Grand Prix anywhere in the world: F1 TV Pro
Alternatively, you can also watch all the races via F1 TV Pro, which is the official streaming service of Formula 1. It costs £20/year or £2.29/mnth in the UK, but this price varies based on where in the world you live. F1 TV Pro shows live coverage of every race to subscribers in select countries, including UK, Belgium, France, Germany, The Netherlands and more. You can see the full country list here.
How to watch the Austrian Grand Prix abroad: use a good VPN service
Whether you’re an F1 fan abroad, or want to watch the Austrian Grand Prix on holiday, you’ll need a VPN. Even if you’ve already signed up to Sky. This is because broadcasters geoblock their content. A VPN makes your device think it’s browsing from another country to help you get around these geoblocks. We’ve listed some of the best VPNs below and once you’ve made your choice, change your VPN location to the UK and sign in to your Sky, Now TV or F1 TV account.
READ NEXT: Best VPN services 2020
ExpressVPN: We can’t recommend ExpressVPN highly enough and it’s our best VPN because it has the fastest speeds over long distances, 24/7 customer support and a no-questions-asked 30-day money-back guarantee. What’s more, it works across a wide range of devices and you can use it on up to five devices simultaneously.
NordVPN: NordVPN is our second-favourite VPN because it shares many of the features of ExpressVPN, including fast speeds, a vast network of servers, 24/7 customer support and a 30-day money-back guarantee. It does have a one-up on ExpressVPN though: it works on six devices at the same time.