Channel 4 F1
Channel 4 F1, commonly abbreviated to C4F1, is a British television programme dedicated to the coverage of Formula One motor racing and has been aired by the British broadcaster Channel 4 since 2016. Prior to 2019, half of the season's practice, qualifying sessions and races were shown live, with all other events covered in an extended qualifying and race highlights format.
| Channel 4 F1 | |
|---|---|
 C4F1 Official Logo | |
| Also known as | C4F1 |
| Genre | Sports |
| Presented by |
|
| Opening theme |
|
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 4 |
| No. of episodes | 72 |
| Production | |
| Production location(s) | Worldwide |
| Editor(s) | John Curtis Steve Aldous |
| Production company(s) | Whisper Films |
| Release | |
| Original network | Channel 4 More 4 All 4 |
| Picture format | 1080i HDTV |
| Audio format | Stereo |
| Original release | 18 March 2016 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | On The Marbles Formula 1 Meets... Grand Prix |
| External links | |
| Website | |
From 2019–2022, only the British GP race will be shown live along with highlights of all other races.
F1 coverage is shown on the main channel, on-demand service All 4 and the More4 channel in occasional circumstances.
History
2016–2018
On 21 December 2015, the BBC announced that it would end its deal with Formula One three years early due to budget cuts[1] and would transfer the remaining three years to Channel 4. Channel 4 would be showing ten selected races live without advertisements and every race (even live) were to be shown as highlights. Channel 4 was the first free-to-air station that ran without commercial breaks during its ten live races.[2]
Channel 4 broadcast from 2016 to the end of the 2018 seasons after purchasing the rights shared with Sky Sports from BBC. Channel 4 also showed the race and associated events of the British Grand Prix and final race weekend.[3] Extended highlights were shown of all remaining races a few hours after they finish, early evening for European and Asian which are shown live races, afternoon for Asian races or late night for live races and ones in the Americas. Qualifying highlights for live races were only shown if they were live races in Asia. Live race coverage was produced by Whisper Films, with North One Television to produce accompanying programmes.[4] Channel 4's full presenting team was announced on 8 March 2016.
Channel 4 also announced that "The Chain" by Fleetwood Mac would be their title music, the song previously used by the BBC's coverage.[5]
Frequent references to social media were made in the programme's break bumpers, usually in the form of hashtags in response to events as they unfold, driver/fan tweets, or simply the appearance of the #C4F1 hashtag.
For the first two years of Channel 4's coverage, the sponsor was travel site Kayak.com. They were replaced for the 2018 season by audio company Bose.
For Practice Two of the 2016 European Grand Prix and 2016 Mexican Grand Prix, More4 had the coverage due to Channel 4 covering the Royal Ascot horse race.
For Practice One and Two of the 2017 United States Grand Prix and 2018 United States Grand Prix, More4 also had the coverage.
2019 onwards
Beginning 2019, Sky Sports hold exclusive rights to all races excluding the British Grand Prix. In September 2018, it was announced that Channel 4 had agreed to a sub-licensing agreement with Sky, under which it broadcasts free-to-air highlights of all races, and live coverage of the British Grand Prix. As part of the arrangement, Sky will have rights to carry full series of Channel 4 dramas on-demand, while Channel 4 also acquired free-to-air rights to the Sky drama Tin Star.[6][7][8]
They continue to be sponsored by Bose.
On 13 March 2019, three days before the first Grand Prix of the season, it was revealed that Channel 4 will not be permitted (under their agreement with Sky) to interview drivers in the "pen", hold interviews in the pit lane or hold a grid walk. Furthermore, Channel 4 must adhere to these and other restrictions in order for Sky to consider agreeing to the same arrangements in 2020.[9]
For the 2020 season due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the programmes were presented from Silverstone as F1 limited the number of broadcasters on site. Clarkson, who works primarily for F1 TV served as Channel 4's paddock reporter, when they were unable to access the paddock. It also saw the introduction of a touch screen. During coverage of the Hungarian Grand Prix, it was confirmed that they would have access to the paddock for at least the British and 70th Anniversary weekends. However, despite being held at Silverstone Circuit Channel 4 will not be allowed to broadcast the 70th Anniversary race live as they are only permitted by their agreement with Sky Sports to broadcast the race named British Grand Prix as was hinted at in an F1 Q+A before the 2020 season started.
Online
Channel 4's website has reports and analysis from David Coulthard and Ben Edwards.
Presenting team
2019 appearances are to be confirmed as the season goes on, all announced dates are listed.[9]
| Presenters | Appearances | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Steve Jones | All venues | Main presenter (On The Marbles, qualifying and race, F1 Forum), Practice presenter (Silverstone, Budapest) |
| Lee McKenzie | When applicable | Practice presenter, presenter of Lee Meets... |
| David Coulthard | All venues | Co-presenter and lead analyst at all races, presenter of David Meets... |
| Ben Edwards | All races | Presenter of F1 Wrap Up and Breakfast with Ben (online programmes) |
| Louise Goodman | Relief Practice presenter, Reporter at China, Austria | F1 Preview |
| Pundits | Appearances | Role |
| David Coulthard | All venues | Lead analyst, presenter of David Meets... and Eddie Meets... |
| Eddie Jordan | Appeared in Azerbaijan, Monaco, Britain, Singapore, USA, Mexico (2016) and Abu Dhabi | |
| Susie Wolff | Appeared at Monaco, Austria, Britain, Belgium (2016/17), Japan and Abu Dhabi.
No longer appears on Channel 4 F1 in 2019. |
Analyst |
| Mark Webber | Most races, appeared at Australia, Bahrain, Monaco, Austria, Britain | |
| Alain Prost | Appeared at Spain 2016, dropped from 2017 team. | |
| Karun Chandhok | No longer on Channel 4 F1.[9] | Analyst/technical analyst |
| Billy Monger[10] | Appeared at Australia, Bahrain, France, Austria | Analyst, touch screen presenter and paddock reporter |
| Commentators | Appearances | Role |
| Ben Edwards | All races | Lead commentator |
| David Coulthard | Co-commentator (qualifying and race only) | All races |
| Tony Dodgins | As commentators: when applicable, selected venues | Free Practice One commentator/commentary producer |
| Mark Webber | Practices and selected qualifying & races as third commentator | |
| Reporters | Appearances | Role |
| Lee McKenzie | Paddock reporter, Practice presenter, presenter of Lee Meets... | Paddock reporter |
| Holly Samos | Reporter TBC | Paddock reporter TBC |
| Claire Cottingham | Reporter Britain | Paddock reporter TBC |
| Louise Goodman | Practice presenter, Reporter at China, Austria in 2018 | Paddock reporter[11] |
| Tom Clarkson | Practice presenter/On location reporter | Paddock reporter |
| Features | Appearances | Role |
| Murray Walker | Main interviewer | Presenter of Murray Meets..., Silverstone |
| Susie Wolff | On rota | Feature interviewer |
| David Coulthard | ||
| Steve Jones | ||
| Lee McKenzie | ||
| Eddie Jordan | ||
| Ben Edwards | ||
| Holly Samos | ||
| Louise Goodman |
Producers/editors
- Sunil Patel (Executive Producer) – Previously worked for BBC F1
- John Curtis[12] (Editor) – Previously worked for Sky Sports News
- Steve Aldous (Assistant Editor) – Previously Worked for ITV and BBC F1
- Tony Dodgins (Commentary Producer) – Previously worked for BBC F1
- Tim Hampel (Producer)
- Richard Gort (Creative Director)
- Kate Waller (Archive Producer)
- Deborah Creaven (Production Manager)
- Allan Handley (Production Accountant)
- Jamie McIntosh (Production Coordinator)
- Dax Wood (Digital Producer)
- Elli Hall (Researcher / PA)
- Sarah Holt (digital editor) – Freelancer who used to work for BBC F1 online
- JR Catipon (Researcher)
References
- "BBC to end F1 contract". BBC News. 21 December 2015. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
- "Channel 4 becomes terrestrial home of F1". Channel 4. Channel 4. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
- "Channel 4 becomes terrestrial home of Formula 1". Channel 4. 21 December 2015. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
- "Channel 4 awards Formula One production contract to Whisper Films". Channel 4. 11 January 2016. Retrieved 11 January 2016.
- Klein, Jamie (12 February 2016). "Channel 4 to keep 'The Chain' as F1 theme song". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
- "British Grand Prix to be shown live on Channel 4 and Sky in 2019". BBC Sport. 12 September 2018. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
- "Free-to-air F1 in new Sky/C4 partnership". a516digital. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
- Benson, Andrew (8 July 2018). "British Grand Prix: All you need to know before the race at Silverstone". BBC Sport. BBC.
- Andrew Benson (13 March 2019). "Formula 1 2019: A new era for the sport on television as well as on track". BBC News. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
- "Billy Monger joins Channel 4's Formula 1® presenting team | Channel 4". www.channel4.com. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
- "Louise Goodman on Twitter". 11 April 2018.
- Nelson, David (18 December 2018). "Whisper Films retains C4 F1 production contract, but changes ahead". Motorsport Broadcasting. Retrieved 15 February 2019.