F1 Race Today: Spanish Grand Prix start time, schedule, TV channel and FREE live stream

F1's newest circuit the Madring hosts its first race this afternoon (Sunday September 13) as the 2026 Spanish Grand Prix lands in Madrid.

The breathtaking 5.416km track - complete with 22 corners including the wild 24 percent banked La Monumental - takes centre stage as a global TV audience tunes in for what should be a spectacular race.

Now we know who will be on pole position after defending world champion Lando Norris produced a blistering lap to qualify in P1 on Saturday - one hundredth of a second ahead of world championship leader Kimi Antonelli.

Four-time world champion Max Verstappen starts from P3, ahead of the Ferrari pair of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.

Antonelli's nearest challenger in the Drivers' standings - his Mercedes team-mate George Russell - has it all to do after qualifying down in P6.

The final countdown is now on to lights out, and we have all the key schedule and TV information for you.

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F1 QUALIFYING RESULTS: Spanish Grand Prix grid positions and times

2026 F1 Spanish Grand Prix schedule and start time

Lights out for the 2026 Spanish Grand Prix is at 3pm local time later today (Sunday September 13). That is 2pm in the UK and 9am Eastern in the US.

Find the race start time converted to your local time zone below:

2026 Spanish Grand Prix Start Time

Race - Sunday, August 23, 2026

How to watch the 2026 Spanish Grand Prix live on TV today

As ever, Sky Sports F1 will broadcast the race live in the UK, with Channel 4 having a highlights package later on Sunday.

Apple TV is the new broadcaster of choice in the US after signing a landmark $750million five-year deal (free trial available for new viewers).

There is also great news with another free option thanks to Spanish free-to-air channel Mediaset, which will broadcast the race live today.

Broadcast details vary depending on your location. Check below to see how to tune in for some major countries:

Where to watch: F1 2026 broadcasters by region

* US F1 fans can make use of a seven-day free trial with Apple TV and watch the Spanish Grand Prix for no extra cost. To sign up to Apple TV, click here.

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

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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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