F1 Sprint Qualifying Today: British Grand Prix start time, schedule, TV channel and FREE live stream

Lewis Hamilton - 2021 British GP — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 British Grand Prix

F1 Sprint Qualifying Today: British Grand Prix start time, TV channel and FREE live stream

Silverstone kicks off on Friday

Graham Shaw Consultant Editor

Digital sports specialist running global brands for 30 years

Friday 3 July 2026 11:00

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The third Sprint qualifying session of the F1 2026 season takes centre stage later today (Friday July 3) as the British Grand Prix weekend gets under way at Silverstone.

The Sprint action (find out more about how it all works here) is a lovely warmup for Sunday's Grand Prix, and there are championship points on offer of course.

The Sprint race proper takes place on Saturday but before that the 22 drivers will be out on track to set the grid on Friday. Including local hero Lewis Hamilton of course.

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You can of course follow all the action live on TV, and we have details of timings and schedule information, wherever you are in the world.

Stream your favourite content with ExpressVPN and enjoy smooth, uninterrupted viewing of the British Grand Prix. Click here to sign up to a secure network now. READ MORE: Where F1 drivers live, and why so many choose Monaco?

British Grand Prix Sprint Qualifying start time

Sprint Qualifying for the F1 2026 British Grand Prix takes place today (Friday July 3) at 16:30 local time (BST).

Find the sprint qualifying start time converted to your local time zone below:

British Grand Prix 2026 Session Times

Sprint Qualifying - Friday, May 22, 2026

Location	Time
Local time (BST)	16:30 Friday
Central European Summer Time (CEST)	17:30 Friday
United States (ET)	11:30 Friday
United States (CT)	10:30 Friday
United States (PT)	08:30 Friday
Brazil (BRT)	12:30 Friday
Australia (AWST)	23:30 Friday
Australia (ACT)	01:30 Saturday
Australia (AET)	01:30 Saturday
Mexico (CST)	09:30 Friday
Japan (JST)	00:30 Saturday
China (CST)	23:30 Friday
South Africa (SAST)	17:30 Friday
Egypt (EEST)	18:30 Friday
India (IST)	21:00 Friday
Singapore (SGT)	23:30 Friday
Turkey (TRT)	18:30 Friday
United Arab Emirates (GST)	19:30 Friday
Saudi Arabia (AST)	18:30 Friday

TV channels and live stream details
Broadcast details vary depending on your location. There is great news for UK fans who get the option to watch the race live AND free on Channel 4:

Where to watch: F1 2026 broadcasters by region

Region/Country	Broadcaster(s)
United Kingdom	Sky Sports, Channel 4
*United States	Apple TV
Italy	Sky Italia
Netherlands	Viaplay, Viaplay Xtra
China	Shanghai TV, Guandong Television Channel, Tencent
Japan	Fuji TV, DAZN
Australia	Fox Sports, Foxtel, Kayo, Network Ten
Spain	DAZN
Canada	RDS, TSN
Germany	Sky Deutschland, RTL
France	Canal+
Belgium	RTBF, Telenet
Luxembourg	RTL Lux, Sky DE
Mexico	Fox Sports Mexico
Singapore	beIN SPORTS
Hungary	M4 Sport
Brazil	Bandeirantes
Austria	Servus TV, ORF
Middle East & Turkey	beIN SPORTS
Africa	SuperSport
Latin America	ESPN

* - A free seven-day trial of Apple TV is available for fans in the US, allowing them to watch F1 for free this weekend.

F1TV Pro also carries coverage of the sport, depending on which territory you are in.

Please note if you click on a product link on this page, we may earn a small affiliate commission.

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Written by

Graham Shaw - Consultant Editor

Digital sports leader with 30 years of senior level experience running global brands. Built sportinglife.com to be a behemoth in the UK as well as being in charge of the Planet Sport network of sites including planetf1.com, football365.com, teamtalk.com and planetrugby.com. Then grew goal.com to be the world's biggest soccer website in 18 languages and 37 territories. Was GM of Portals for Perform Group (now DAZN) with overall responsibility for sportingnews.com, spox.de and voetbalzone.nl.

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F1 Silverstone British Grand Prix