If you were beginning to wonder if US fans would be able to watch Formula 1 as the series starts in just 12 days, then this news will find you a tad relived. ESPN have released their F1 schedule and channel listing for 2018. There were questions about covering all sessions of the F1 race weekend and that has been answered.
ESPN’s F1 TV listing:
| Race No. | Race | Session | Date | Start Time (ET) | Network |
| 1 | Rolex Australian Grand Prix | Practice 1 | Thursday, March 22 | 9:00 PM | ESPN3 |
| Practice 2 | Friday, March 23 | 1:00 AM | ESPN3 | ||
| Practice 3 | Friday, March 23 | 10:00 PM | ESPNEWS | ||
| Qualifying | Saturday, March 24 | 2:00 AM | ESPN2 | ||
| Race | Sunday, March 25 | 1:00 AM | ESPN2 | ||
| 2 | Gulf Bahrain Grand Prix | Practice 1 | Friday, April 6 | 7:00 AM | ESPN3 |
| Practice 2 | Friday, April 6 | 11:00 AM | ESPN3 | ||
| Practice 3 | Saturday, April 7 | 8:00 AM | ESPNEWS | ||
| Qualifying | Saturday, April 7 | 11:00 AM | ESPN2 | ||
| Race | Sunday, April 8 | 11:00 AM | ESPN2 | ||
| 3 | Heineken Chinese Grand Prix | Practice 1 | Thursday, April 12 | 10:00 PM | ESPN3 |
| Practice 2 | Friday, April 13 | 2:00 AM | ESPN3 | ||
| Practice 3 | Friday, April 13 | 11:00 PM | ESPNEWS | ||
| Qualifying | Saturday, April 14 | 2:00 AM | ESPN2 | ||
| Race | Sunday, April 15 | 2:00 AM | ESPN2 | ||
| 4 | Azerbaijan Grand Prix | Practice 1 | Friday, April 27 | 5:00 AM | ESPN3 |
| Practice 2 | Friday, April 27 | 9:00 AM | ESPN3 | ||
| Practice 3 | Saturday, April 28 | 6:00 AM | ESPNEWS | ||
| Qualifying | Saturday, April 28 | 9:00 AM | ESPNEWS | ||
| Race | Sunday, April 29 | 8:00 AM | ESPN2 | ||
| 5 | Spanish Grand Prix | Practice 1 | Friday, May 11 | 5:00 AM | ESPN3 |
| Practice 2 | Friday, May 11 | 9:00 AM | ESPN3 | ||
| Practice 3 | Saturday, May 12 | 6:00 AM | ESPNEWS | ||
| Qualifying | Saturday, May 12 | 9:00 AM | ESPN2 | ||
| Race | Sunday, May 13 | 9:00 AM | ESPN2 | ||
| 6 | Monaco Grand Prix | Practice 1 | Thursday, May 24 | 5:00 AM | ESPN2 |
| Practice 2 | Thursday, May 24 | 9:00 AM | ESPNEWS | ||
| Practice 3 | Saturday, May 26 | 6:00 AM | ESPNEWS | ||
| Qualifying | Saturday, May 26 | 9:00 AM | ESPN2 | ||
| Race | Sunday, May 27 | 9:00 AM | ESPN | ||
| Encore | Sunday, May 27 | 3:30 PM | ABC | ||
| 7 | Canadian Grand Prix | Practice 1 | Friday, June 8 | 10:00 AM | ESPN3 |
| Practice 2 | Friday, June 8 | 2:00 PM | ESPN3 | ||
| Practice 3 | Saturday, June 9 | 11:00 AM | ESPNEWS | ||
| Qualifying | Saturday, June 9 | 2:00 PM | ESPNEWS | ||
| Race | Sunday, June 10 | 2:00 PM | ABC | ||
| 8 | French Grand Prix | Practice 1 | Friday, June 22 | 6:00 AM | ESPN3 |
| Practice 2 | Friday, June 22 | 10:00 AM | ESPN3 | ||
| Practice 3 | Saturday, June 23 | 7:00 AM | ESPNEWS | ||
| Qualifying | Saturday, June 23 | 10:00 AM | ESPNEWS | ||
| Race | Sunday, June 24 | 10:00 AM | ESPN2 | ||
| 9 | Austrian Grand Prix | Practice 1 | Friday, June 29 | 5:00 AM | ESPN3 |
| Practice 2 | Friday, June 29 | 9:00 AM | ESPN3 | ||
| Practice 3 | Saturday, June 30 | 6:00 AM | ESPNEWS | ||
| Qualifying | Saturday, June 30 | 9:00 AM | ESPNEWS | ||
| Race | Sunday, July 1 | 9:00 AM | ESPN2 | ||
| 10 | Rolex British Grand Prix | Practice 1 | Friday, July 6 | 5:00 AM | ESPN3 |
| Practice 2 | Friday, July 6 | 9:00 AM | ESPN3 | ||
| Practice 3 | Saturday, July 7 | 6:00 AM | ESPNEWS | ||
| Qualifying | Saturday, July 7 | 9:00 AM | ESPNEWS | ||
| Race | Sunday, July 8 | 9:00 AM | ESPN | ||
| 11 | Emirates German Grand Prix | Practice 1 | Friday, July 20 | 5:00 AM | ESPN3 |
| Practice 2 | Friday, July 20 | 9:00 AM | ESPN3 | ||
| Practice 3 | Saturday, July 21 | 6:00 AM | ESPNEWS | ||
| Qualifying | Saturday, July 21 | 9:00 AM | ESPNEWS | ||
| Race | Sunday, July 22 | 9:00 AM | ESPN2 | ||
| 12 | Hungarian Grand Prix | Practice 1 | Friday, July 27 | 5:00 AM | ESPN3 |
| Practice 2 | Friday, July 27 | 9:00 AM | ESPN3 | ||
| Practice 3 | Saturday, July 28 | 6:00 AM | ESPNEWS | ||
| Qualifying | Saturday, July 28 | 9:00 AM | ESPNEWS | ||
| Race | Sunday, July 29 | 9:00 AM | ESPN2 | ||
| 13 | Belgian Grand Prix | Practice 1 | Friday, August 24 | 5:00 AM | ESPN3 |
| Practice 2 | Friday, August 24 | 9:00 AM | ESPN3 | ||
| Practice 3 | Saturday, August 25 | 6:00 AM | ESPNEWS | ||
| Qualifying | Saturday, August 25 | 9:00 AM | ESPN2 | ||
| Race | Sunday, August 26 | 9:00 AM | ESPN2 | ||
| 14 | Heineken Italian Grand Prix | Practice 1 | Friday, August 31 | 5:00 AM | ESPN3 |
| Practice 2 | Friday, August 31 | 9:00 AM | ESPN3 | ||
| Practice 3 | Saturday, Sept. 1 | 6:00 AM | ESPNEWS | ||
| Qualifying | Saturday, Sept. 1 | 9:00 AM | ESPNEWS | ||
| Race | Sunday, Sept. 2 | 9:00 AM | ESPN2 | ||
| 15 | Singapore Grand Prix | Practice 1 | Friday, Sept. 14 | 4:30 AM | ESPN3 |
| Practice 2 | Friday, Sept. 14 | 8:30 AM | ESPN3 | ||
| Practice 3 | Saturday, Sept. 15 | 6:00 AM | ESPNEWS | ||
| Qualifying | Saturday, Sept. 15 | 9:00 AM | ESPNEWS | ||
| Race | Sunday, Sept. 16 | 8:00 AM | ESPN2 | ||
| 16 | VTB Russian Grand Prix | Practice 1 | Friday, Sept. 28 | 4:00 AM | ESPN3 |
| Practice 2 | Friday, Sept. 28 | 8:00 AM | ESPN3 | ||
| Practice 3 | Saturday, Sept. 29 | 5:00 AM | ESPNEWS | ||
| Qualifying | Saturday, Sept. 29 | 8:00 AM | ESPNEWS | ||
| Race | Sunday, Sept. 30 | 7:00 AM | ESPN2 | ||
| 17 | Japanese Grand Prix | Practice 1 | Thursday, Oct. 4 | 9:00 PM | ESPN3 |
| Practice 2 | Friday, Oct. 5 | 1:00 AM | ESPN3 | ||
| Practice 3 | Friday, Oct. 5 | 11:00 PM | ESPNEWS | ||
| Qualifying | Saturday, Oct. 6 | 2:00 AM | ESPN2 | ||
| Race | Sunday, Oct. 7 | 1:00 AM | ESPN2 | ||
| 18 | United States Grand Prix | Practice 1 | Friday, Oct. 19 | 11:00 AM | ESPNEWS |
| Practice 2 | Friday, Oct. 19 | 3:00 PM | ESPN3 | ||
| Practice 3 | Saturday, Oct. 20 | 2:00 PM | ESPN3 | ||
| Qualifying | Saturday, Oct. 20 | TBD | ESPNEWS (delayed) | ||
| Race | Sunday, Oct. 21 | 2:00 PM | ABC | ||
| 19 | Mexican Grand Prix | Practice 1 | Friday, Oct. 26 | 11:00 AM | ESPN3 |
| Practice 2 | Friday, Oct. 26 | 3:00 PM | ESPNEWS | ||
| Practice 3 | Saturday, Oct. 27 | 11:00 AM | ESPN3 | ||
| Qualifying | Saturday, Oct. 27 | 2:00 PM | ESPNEWS | ||
| Race | Sunday, Oct. 28 | 3:00 PM | ABC | ||
| 20 | Heineken Brazilian Grand Prix | Practice 1 | Friday, Nov. 9 | 9:00 AM | ESPN3 |
| Practice 2 | Friday, Nov. 9 | 12:00 PM | ESPN3 | ||
| Practice 3 | Saturday, Nov. 10 | 9:00 AM | ESPNEWS | ||
| Qualifying | Saturday, Nov. 10 | TBD | ESPNEWS (delayed) | ||
| Race | Sunday, Nov. 11 | 12:00 PM | ABC | ||
| 21 | Ethiad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix | Practice 1 | Friday, Nov. 23 | 5:00 AM | ESPN3 |
| Practice 2 | Friday, Nov. 23 | 8:00 AM | ESPN3 | ||
| Practice 3 | Saturday, Nov. 24 | 5:00 AM | ESPNEWS | ||
| Qualifying | Saturday, Nov. 24 | 8:00 AM | ESPNEWS | ||
| Race | Sunday, Nov. 25 | 8:00 AM | ESPN2 |
Tentative schedule – subject to change
Let me check my calender: what year is this-1995 or 2018? ESPN puts Formula-1 on the Deuce like they did back in 1995. And ESPN will not show Free Practice 2 at all except on ESPN-3(streaming?) and qualifying for the USGP will be broadcast-delayed. Seriously? Sounds like a hard push by Liberty to get widespread acceptance of its streaming service in America. A good friend warned me “be careful for you wish for” and he were absolutely right.
If ESPNews is a key channel for F1 Qualifying then I’m out. Pay too much for cable already and I’m not paying a penny more for a special streaming service or for more channels like ESPNews. I made sure to have NBC Sports in my subscription package before and I always had qualifying and races events DVR’d. I’ve also made the trip to COTA numerous times, so consider myself a relatively good fan (ie I spend money on the sport when the product is worth it). Liberty Media has prioritized squeezing us for money above delivering a consistent quality product.… Read more »
I had to look up what ESPN3 was. …surprised it’s not on The Ocho. >:( It’s a shame that talks broke down between Liberty and NBC.
1st, let me thank you for posting these times and dates.
2nd, ESPN3 and ESPN News are available to only 22.5% of ESPN subscribers (and for those that aren’t, they come in a package only with other channels, with DishTV adding over $20 a month).
Noticed that on my guide… I have PCs connected to all my TVs so ESPN3 good for me… any word on whether all sessions will be on ESPN video on demand on the website? Would rather not get up in the middle of the night to watch live. Still waiting to see what F1 TV looks like or go back to my streaming service for Sky F1…
Welp, this is what I was afraid of as soon as I saw “our platforms” in the press releases. We’re loosing FP2 on Tv. ESPN 3 is only available over the web. I guess having FP3 is o.k. but I’ll probably never watch it (that’s just too much for one Saturday during the summer). Like everything else about this ESPN deal it would be nice on top of FP2, not as a replacement. I had a nice ritual of ending the work day on Friday and firing up the DVR to watch FP2 while I made/ate dinner. Made the race… Read more »
I think I’ll stick to streaming Sky, thank you.
I’ll defend ESPN here…more TV than I actually expected because I didn’t think qually would make the cut. ESPNnews is a bit of a disappointment but let’s remember, ESPN2 in 2018 is not ESPN2 of 1995. ESPN2 has much more market penetration than FS1 and NBCSN.
If Liberty Media is wanting to get more eyeballs watching it’s product, this isn’t the way to go about it. Looks like I’ll be finding other things to fill the time I would have been watching F1.
So it looks like I won’t be DVR’ing any of the Practice Sessions on ESPN3. It’s only available on streaming with my cable provider (Spectrum). Let’s see what the OTT package looks like. If it only does live streams, I’ll be watching a lot less F1 this year.
I have almost never gotten ESPN3 or GO or whatever the silly service is to work reliably. Their stream is such that you are never securely “in” and you get buffered and stalled to death. Not the majority of time, but I would say a plurality it just won’t…do…anything. Also, if there are commercials, they come in annoying long blocks and of course when those stall out, you can’t come back in ahead and, well, you can see where this death spiral leads. Although the good news is that, by comparison, even a deeply flawed brand new buggy F1 app… Read more »
I’ll just keep streaming it on Sky, I’m sure ESPN will terrorize the feed with commercials every 5mins.
At least they’re covering all the sessions. There is a tab for ‘replays’ on ESPN3, you can watch the Firestone Grand Prix now. It’s 720p, but the encoding doesn’t look great on my 1440p computer monitor (I’m guessing it will look better through AppleTV on a tv). The ads remain, but some seem to be replaced by ESPN promos.
I’ll be subscribing to the OTT Service regardless, but depending upon who Liberty uses for the on-air talent, I’ll probably still download the ad-free Sky coverage.
Just when I was enjoying and getting into F1, espn stifles it. Well, baseball season starts in a couple weeks.
what is espn 3
Anyone else notice ESPN only blocked out 1 hour for practice and 1 hour for quali?
I noticed ESPN2 has a 30 min show Formula 1: On The Grid scheduled right before the race on Sunday. May be some pre-race commentary from somebody…..?