Sky’s new F1 deal is great for the sport but not necessarily fans

Sky Sports F1

Sky’s new F1 deal is great for the sport but not necessarily fans

Sky's new F1 deal raises a fair question for UK fans

Matthew Hobkinson Lead Editor

F1 Editor & Journalist

Sunday 10 May 2026 17:42

Sky's new F1 deal is good news for Formula 1.

It gives the sport long-term stability in one of its most important markets, keeps a trusted broadcast partner in place and locks in a level of investment for F1's commercial future.

It is also good news for Sky, obviously. F1 has become one of the most valuable properties in British sport and Sky will remain the exclusive live home of the championship in the UK and Ireland until 2034.

But that word is the uncomfortable one. Exclusive.

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Sky deserve credit for F1 coverage

This is not an attack on Sky's F1 coverage.

Far from it. Sky have helped shape the way a generation of fans watch the sport and some of their key figures have become part of the race weekend itself.

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Martin Brundle's grid walk is still box office, even when it descends into celebrity awkwardness. Ted Kravitz's Notebook gives fans exactly the kind of paddock insight (and a healthy dose of beautiful nonsense) they want after a session has finished. You can argue over individual pundits, features or tone, but the overall product is clearly serious, detailed and deeply invested in F1.

Brundle himself summed up the responsibility neatly after the new deal was announced.

"So, we don't miss anything in Formula 1, and I think that is a big responsibility," Brundle said. "Sky has been very good to Formula 1 and Formula 1 has been very good to Sky."

He added: "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."

Sky have put the money in, built the infrastructure, retained big-name talent and treated F1 like a premium sport rather than something squeezed around other programming.

UK F1 fans face a monopoly question

The issue is not whether Sky are good at showing F1.

The issue is whether it is healthy for one company to hold every live race, every live qualifying session, every live sprint and every live practice session in the UK for another decade.

There is still free-to-air access to the British Grand Prix, which matters, but that is not really the main point here.

For UK fans who want to watch F1 live every weekend, the route is Sky or NOW. There is no rival broadcaster competing for live race weekends, no meaningful alternative package for fans who might want a different style of coverage and no sense that the market will change any time soon.

That is great if you already like Sky and can afford it.

It is less great if you are a fan who wants live F1 but does not want one provider to be the only real option.

F1 must be careful with fan access

F1 is not wrong to take the money. Sky are not wrong to pay for the rights. This is how elite sport works.

But F1 is also enjoying a boom in the UK. Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari, Lando Norris at McLaren, George Russell and Kimi Antonelli at Mercedes, British fans have plenty of reasons to be invested.

The sport wants younger fans, newer fans and more casual fans to keep coming in, yet the full live product remains tied to one company until 2034.

That does not make Sky the villain. Sky's coverage is often excellent and F1 is better for having broadcasters who care about the sport properly.

But a monopoly is still a monopoly, even when the company with the rights is doing a good job.

Fans are still entitled to ask whether one broadcaster having every live race for the next decade is really the best version of the sport's future.

F1 Martin Brundle Sky Sports F1 Ted Kravitz David Croft