Sky Sports to remain home of Formula 1 until 2034 after five-year extension to exclusive UK and Ireland deal
Sky Sports to remain the home of Formula 1 in the UK and Ireland until 2034; Sky and NOW are the only place to watch live coverage of every practice, qualifying, Sprint and Grand Prix; watch the 2026 season continue with the Canadian GP live on Sky Sports from May 22-24
Wednesday 6 May 2026 16:00, UK
Sky Sports will remain the exclusive home of Formula 1 in the UK and Ireland until 2034 after extending its partnership with the sport for a further five years.
As part of the award-winning coverage, all races, qualifying and practice sessions will continue to be exclusively live on Sky Sports F1 and available to stream on NOW, while live home nation races and highlights of every Grand Prix will be shared on free-to-air.
The agreement, which also includes live coverage of Formula 2, Formula 3, F1 Academy and Porsche Supercup, comes after Britain's Lando Norris won the 2025 Drivers' Championship for McLaren in what was the most-watched F1 season ever on Sky Sports.
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Sky will also remain the home of F1 until 2032 in Italy, having agreed a five-year extension to Sky Italia's deal. There is currently enormous excitement around F1 in Italy, given 19-year-old Italian Kimi Antonelli has won three successive races to take an early lead in the 2026 Drivers' Championship.
Formula 1 president Stefano Domenicali said: "Sky has always been a dedicated, trusted and passionate partner since we began our relationship many years ago.
"Their world-leading approach to live broadcasting, content creation, behind the scenes analysis led by a truly amazing group of on-screen talent has made the difference in continuing to grow our sport in the UK, Ireland and Italy and I am delighted we will be taking our partnership into the next decade."
Since becoming the home of Formula 1 in the UK and Ireland in 2019, Sky has played a central role in the sport's growth in those markets.
Total viewing has increased by 90 per cent, with under-35s up 120 per cent, and female viewership has more than doubled. In the past three seasons alone (2023-2025), viewing has grown by 14 per cent, culminating in a record-breaking 2025 season with 162m viewer hours.
Dana Strong, group chief executive Sky, said: "We're proud of the role we've played in supporting the sport's growth through world-class storytelling, innovation and long-term investment.
"This new agreement secures Sky as the home of Formula 1 for years to come, as the sport enters an exciting era with more British talent on the grid and rising stars like Kimi Antonelli. I want to thank Stefano and the F1 team for our continued partnership, which we're excited to build on in the years ahead."
Sky's F1 coverage will continue to be shared with international broadcast partners, reaching fans in more than 100 markets worldwide.
Viewers will continue to enjoy insight and analysis from Sky's expert line-up featuring former world champions alongside world-class commentary and much-loved segments, from Martin Brundle's Grid Walk through to Ted's Notebook and Bernie Collins' expert analysis live from the pit wall.
Sky's coverage has continued to push boundaries within the sport, with award-winning analysis via the SkyPad and innovation in the form of its Ghost Car feature which allows viewers to see in remarkable detail how key battles across the grid play out.
The introduction of onboard cameras as well as access to enhanced real-time data has also brought fans even closer to the action, allowing them to experience a race from inside the car of their favourite driver.
The partnership with F1 adds to Sky's market-leading portfolio in the UK and Ireland with more top-quality sport than anywhere else, with most of Sky's sport rights secured until near the end of the decade.
That includes 1,500 games from the Premier League, Women's Super League, EFL and SPFL; year-round coverage of both tennis and darts, every shot from the golf Majors, home men's and women's international England cricket, and more action from the NFL, Netball Super League and rugby league.
Brundle: We do it for our audience
Following Wednesday's announcement, Martin Brundle told Sky Sports News that he remains motivated by bringing the paddock and wider world of F1 into the living rooms of Sky viewers.
"We have the most amazing team of creative people and every time the green light is on at the end of the pit lane, we're always live," Brundle said. "And then there are hundreds of hours in between spent working on features, stories, catch-ups, podcasts - and there's also the digital side of it.
"So, we don't miss anything in Formula 1, and I think that is a big responsibility. Sky has been very good to Formula 1 and Formula 1 has been very good to Sky.
"I joined in 2012 and took a bit of stick at the time for daring to leave the BBC, but I saw a commitment from Sky to Formula 1 for the future. And my goodness, today's deal means there will have been at least 22 years of that.
"As soon as they told me we were going to do a dedicated Sky F1 channel I thought, 'this is serious, I need to be part of this.' And I love being part of it and I love being surrounded by creative people and all the things we're able to achieve.
"But the bottom line is that what's most important is the audience, the subscribers, the people who tune in. They've got to trust us, they've got to believe in us, we've got to tell them the story as we see it, as it unfolds, whether they like what we say or not, however it is. At the end of the day, that's who we're doing it for, it is the audience."
Brundle's pre-race grid walk has become one of the most iconic features in global sport's broadcasting, with his adventures at Sunday's Miami Grand Prix adding the latest entertaining chapter.
He added: "I've been doing grid walks for 28 years, I've not ever seen one yet and I don't even intend to start now. What happens, happens and it's some crazy thing that's sort of taken on a life of its own,
"Our job is to put the viewer at the venue, in the garage, in the pit lane, on the pit wall, on the grid, inside the cockpit. Our job is to take the viewer on the entire journey and make them feel like they're there, so we've just got to do more of that.
"Access is everything, information, data and obviously opinion and sort of inside knowledge. We've got a very broad base of people in our team. We just got to get in there and dig the stories out and tell it the way it is."
Formula 1 next heads to Montreal for the Canadian Grand Prix and another Sprint weekend. Watch live on Sky Sports F1 on May 22-24. Stream Sky Sports with NOW - no contract, cancel anytime
