How to watch the Chinese Grand Prix: Follow the third race of the 2019 F1 season, wherever you are
F1’s 1,000th race has all the ingredients to be a classic – find out how to watch every minute
The 1,000th race in Formula 1 history will take place in Shanghai this weekend, 69 years after the very first. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc will be aiming to put the heartbreak of race number 999 in Bahrain behind him as he looks to secure his maiden F1 victory.
Mercedes’ Valteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton will also be battling out for first place. The latter will take confidence from the race being staged at a circuit that’s traditionally been a happy hunting ground for the British superstar.
If you’re keen to follow all of the action from Shanghai this weekend, then you’ve come to the right place. Here’s how to watch every minute of Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix.
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When is the Chinese Grand Prix?
If you’re based in the UK, then prepare for an early start: the Chinese Grand Prix will get underway at 7.10am BST on Sunday 14 April, live from Shanghai International Circuit in – you guessed it – Shanghai, China.
The qualifying session will, as usual, take place the day before, running from 6.55-8.05am BST on Saturday 13 April.
How to watch the Chinese Grand Prix in the UK
Sky Sports F1
As is the case with every F1 race this year, Sky Sports has the exclusive rights to televised coverage of the Chinese Grand Prix.
The race itself will be shown on Sky Sports’ dedicated F1 channel, with pit lane coverage beginning at the rather early hour of 5.30am. Updates and interviews from the paddock will follow the race, with the live coverage eventually coming to a close at 10am.
Sky is currently promoting an offer that will give you access to Sky Sports F1 for an additional £10 per month on top of your existing Sky subscription, down from the usual £18.
The F1 channel is also available as part of the main sports package, which includes all eight Sky Sports channels for a cost of £23 per month. That price is available for customers who are willing to commit to an 18-month contract – the non-contract price is more expensive at £30 per month.
Of course, in order to access any of the above, you’ll need to have a Sky TV or Sky Broadband subscription. There are a multitude of options to choose from when signing up to Sky, so click below to find out more.
Browse Sky TV packages | Browse Sky Broadband packages
Now TV
If you’re not willing to commit to a long-term Sky contract, then the obvious alternative for watching the Chinese Grand Prix is to invest in a Now TV pass.
Now TV passes are designed to give you access to the best that Sky Sports has to offer on a short-term basis.
The sports passes come in four iterations: the Day Pass (£9), Week Pass (£15), Month Pass (£34) and Mobile Month Pass (£6). Unfortunately, the F1 channel isn’t available on the latter just yet.
Browse Now TV’s Sky Sports passes here
For the other three, simply sign up to Now TV, purchase your desired pass, activate it just before the start of the race on Sunday and away you go. You’ll now have access to high-quality coverage of the Chinese Grand Prix which you can stream to your TV, laptop, tablet or other device.
Now TV’s passes don’t just cover sport. The Entertainment Pass will give you access to some of Sky’s top channels (including Sky Atlantic, if you’re into Game of Thrones) and the Movie and Kids passes are also well worth a look.
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Can I watch the Chinese Grand Prix on Channel 4?
Unfortunately, Channel 4 only has the rights to show the British Grand Prix live this season, so you won’t be able to watch events unfold in Shanghai on free-to-air TV in the UK this Sunday.
However, a two-hour highlights show presented by Steve Jones and David Coulthard will air at 3pm on the same day on Channel 4, so all is not lost.
How to watch the Chinese Grand Prix wherever you are
VPN
If you happen to find yourself overseas this Sunday, you can always try watching the UK coverage of the Chinese Grand Prix via a VPN.
VPNs (virtual private networks) essentially fool your computer or other device into thinking it’s in another country, meaning you can access content that would otherwise be foiled by a geoblock.
Of course, you have to own a Sky Sports subscription or a Now TV pass first to access the live coverage, or a valid UK TV licence to watch Channel 4’s highlights show. Once you have one of these, you can download your chosen VPN, select the UK server, head on over to the relevant website and start watching.
To help you choose your preferred VPN, here are three of the very best currently available.
Our favourite VPN at the moment is NordVPN. You can use it on your PC, mobile device or tablet on up to six devices at once – ideal if you and a group of friends want to catch the Chinese Grand Prix at the same time.
Windscribe is also a good option. It’s well designed, easy to use and well priced, at only £6.80 per month.
If you consider yourself a technical user, IPVanish is a polished, well-designed VPN with an impressive and highly configurable set of privacy features. Other services may be cheaper and faster but, if you’re looking for control, IPVanish could be the VPN for you.
F1 TV Pro
As you may or may not have heard, Formula 1 recently launched its own race-streaming service. F1 TV Pro boasts live coverage of every single grand prix in this year’s calendar.
You can subscribe to this in countries where the service is available (including Belgium, France, Germany, Netherlands and more – you can find the full lowdown here), but, as long as Sky retains exclusive rights to F1 coverage, that won’t be in the UK.