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ESPN staff
ESPN will run all of the remaining U.S. qualifying and race telecasts of the 2018 Formula One season commercial-free.
ESPN joined forces with Sky Sports to deliver broadcast coverage of this year’s campaign. That deal includes every practice session, qualifying and all 21 races of the year. ESPN also broadcasts Sky Sports’ build-up show ‘On The Grid’, which it will do for every race this year.
Having listened to viewer feedback of the Australian Grand Prix coverage the decision was made to run commercial-free during qualifying and the race at the following event in Bahrain. This was met positively by race fans across America and it will be extended for the duration of the current campaign.
ESPN will continue to look at ways to improve its F1 coverage throughout the year.
« We intend to present the F1 races in this way for the balance of the 2018 season, » said Burke Magnus, ESPN executive vice president, programming & scheduling. « F1 fans are passionate and we listened to a lot of feedback from them — the fans are very informed and the feedback we received was both polite and constructive. It helped us.
« We don’t have a completely finished product but we’re very happy with the way the changes after Australia were received. We’ll continue to keep working to make it better for the fans. »
Mothers Polish will be the presenting sponsor for the season’s coverage.
As longtime motorsport fans, participants and supporters, we’re proud to help present the 2018 Formula One Championship on @espn. After a rough start to the season, we were pleased to help present the Bahrain GP without interruption. Thank you for all the positive feedback! pic.twitter.com/4lMaZ5gsWA
— Mothers Polish (@MothersPolish) April 9, 2018
Formula 1 Heineken Chinese Grand Prix U.S. coverage presented by Mothers Polish (All times Eastern)
Practice 1 – Thursday, April 12 09:55 PM – ESPN3
Practice 2 – Friday, April 13 1:55 AM – ESPN3
Practice 3 – Friday, April 13 11:00 PM – ESPNEWS
Qualifying – Saturday, April 14 1:55 AM – ESPN2
On the Grid – Sunday, April 15 – 1:30AM – ESPN2
Race – Sunday, April 15 – 2:05AM – ESPN2
Encore – Sunday April 15 – 1:00PM – ESPNEWS
Encore – Sunday, April 15 – 09:00PM – ESPN2
http://www.espn.com/f1/story/_/id/23103594/espn-goes-commercial-free-rest-2018-f1-coverage-us
