Short answer: Formula 1 sells its rights country by country, and 2026 brought the biggest change in years — Apple TV is now the exclusive home of F1 in the United States, carrying every practice, qualifying, sprint and race, with F1 TV Premium included at no extra cost for US subscribers. In the UK it remains Sky Sports F1, with NOW as the streaming route. Elsewhere it varies enormously, and the one thing worth knowing before you subscribe to anything is that F1's own direct product isn't available everywhere — precisely because a local broadcaster holds exclusivity.
At a glance
Formula 1 in 2026
| United States | Apple TV, exclusively |
| United Kingdom | Sky Sports F1, streamed via NOW |
| F1's own product | Not available in every country |
| This season | Major regulation reset — new engines |
| Check first | F1's official broadcaster directory |
The US change: Apple TV
This is the headline of the season for American viewers, and older guides are now wrong.
Apple TV holds exclusive US rights to Formula 1 from 2026. That covers everything — all practice sessions, qualifying, sprints and races, live and on demand. There's no separate cable channel carrying it alongside.
What Apple has added on top is worth knowing about:
4K with Dolby Vision, a first for Formula 1 viewers, along with 5.1 surround sound.
Up to 30 additional live feeds per session — onboard cameras, timing data, alternative angles. This is the sort of thing that previously required the premium direct-from-F1 product.
F1 TV Premium is included at no additional cost for Apple TV subscribers in the US, and is available there only through Apple. So the US now has an unusual arrangement: one subscription delivers both the broadcast and the enthusiast-grade product that elsewhere costs extra.
For an American fan the practical answer is therefore simple, which it hasn't been for years: one subscription covers the entire season including everything the hardcore product offered.
Who shows it elsewhere
Outside the US, coverage is sold territory by territory, and the arrangements differ considerably.
| Country | Where to watch |
| United States | Apple TV (exclusive) |
| United Kingdom | Sky Sports F1, streamed through NOW |
| Canada | TSN in English, RDS in French |
| Australia | Fox Sports and Kayo Sports |
| Elsewhere | Varies widely — check F1's own broadcaster directory for your country |
That last row is deliberate rather than lazy. Formula 1 rights in continental Europe and beyond sit with a mixture of pay broadcasters and, in some countries, free-to-air channels, and those arrangements change between seasons. Formula 1 maintains an official broadcaster listing covering every territory, and for anywhere not named above that is the authoritative place to check rather than a third-party guide that may be a season out of date.
F1 TV, and why you may not be able to get it
Formula 1 sells its own direct-to-consumer product, and it's excellent — but the availability question catches people out constantly.
The premium tier gives you every session live, all the onboard cameras, team radio, live timing and the full archive. For someone who wants to watch a race properly rather than simply watch it, it's the best version of the sport available.
The catch: it isn't offered in every country, and the reason is exclusivity. Where a broadcaster has bought exclusive rights in a territory, F1 cannot sell a competing product into that market. So in some countries you can subscribe directly and in others the option simply doesn't exist, or exists in a reduced form without live racing.
The US is now the clearest example of how this resolves: rather than competing with Apple, F1 TV Premium is delivered through Apple TV and included with it.
Before assuming you can buy the direct product, check whether it's sold in your country — that's on F1's own site. If it isn't, your local broadcaster is the route, and no amount of searching will produce an alternative official option.
One note on the guides suggesting you disguise your location to obtain it anyway: that breaches the service's terms, and accounts get closed for it. It's also usually unnecessary, since the local broadcaster carries the racing.
Free-to-air coverage
Worth checking before paying, because it varies more in F1 than in most sports.
Some countries show the full season free to air. Historically this has included markets where a domestic driver or team drives national interest, and where public broadcasters have competed for the rights.
Others show selected races only — often the local Grand Prix and a handful of marquee events, with the rest behind a subscription.
Home races frequently get broader coverage. The Australian Grand Prix, for instance, may receive wider free-to-air treatment under local arrangements, without the rest of the season being free.
Highlights are widely free even where live racing isn't, and for a casual follower a highlights package covers the substance of a race weekend in a fraction of the time.
The practical step is the same as ever: check what your own country's free-to-air broadcasters are carrying before subscribing to anything, because in F1 the answer is more often "something" than people assume.
Why 2026 is worth watching
Relevant to a purchase decision, because this isn't an ordinary season.
Formula 1 introduced a substantial regulation reset for 2026 — new power unit rules and revised car regulations, alongside new entrants joining the grid. Seasons that follow a major rule change tend to be the most unpredictable in the sport, because the competitive order gets scrambled and teams that were dominant under the old rules aren't necessarily dominant under the new ones.
Two practical implications:
It's a good season to start watching, since everyone is learning the new formula together and the usual accumulated advantage counts for less.
A full-season subscription is easier to justify than in a year where the outcome looks settled by the third race.
Whether that holds depends on how the season develops, but rule-change years are historically where the sport is at its least predictable.
The offers that don't add up
F1 attracts these in volume, and the pitch is always the same: every session, every feed, every country's commentary, for a few euros a month.
The economics explain themselves. Apple paid substantially for exclusive US rights; Sky pays substantially for the UK. That expenditure is exactly why coverage is territorial and why a subscription costs what it does. A service offering all of it worldwide for a fraction of one territory's price isn't a smarter operator — it isn't paying for any of it, which is unlawful in most countries.
What happens next is consistent:
They break during the race. Practice sessions run fine; the stream dies somewhere around lap 15 of the Grand Prix, when everyone is watching the same thing.
They disappear without refunds, and enforcement action against them is routine.
Payment details sit with an anonymous operator with no obligation to protect them.
The legitimate comparison is reasonable, particularly now: in the US one Apple TV subscription covers the entire season including the premium feeds that used to cost extra. In most other countries it's one broadcaster subscription, often with free highlights alongside, and races you can watch as replays if the live timing doesn't suit.
Quick answers
Where can I watch F1 in the US? Apple TV, exclusively, covering all practice, qualifying, sprint sessions and races — with F1 TV Premium included at no extra cost and 4K Dolby Vision coverage.
Where can I watch F1 in the UK? Sky Sports F1, with NOW as the streaming option for people who don't want a full Sky subscription.
Can I just buy F1 TV directly? Only in countries where it's offered. Where a broadcaster holds exclusive rights, F1 can't sell a competing product, so the direct option may be unavailable or limited.
Is any F1 free to air? It depends heavily on your country — some show the full season free, others selected races, and highlights packages are widely available for nothing. Check your national broadcasters before subscribing.
How do I find out who shows it in my country? Formula 1 maintains an official broadcaster directory covering every territory, which is more reliable than third-party guides that may be a season out of date.
Is 2026 a good season to start watching? Arguably yes — a major regulation reset means the competitive order is less settled than usual, which historically makes for less predictable racing.
Formula 1 broadcast rights are sold territory by territory and change between seasons, and the availability of F1's direct product varies by country as a result. Details here reflect the 2026 season — consult Formula 1's own broadcaster directory for your country before subscribing. Checked September 2026.