F1 has officially confirmed that its OTT platform will telecast live coverage of the first 2019 Barcelona test from Circuit de Catalunya.
After Sky Sports F1 revealed their plans of live coverage for the UK fans – for now – F1 has also confirmed their intentions to broadcast live on their own OTT platform which was introduced by the sport in 2018 with Tata Communications.
Matt Roberts, F1’s Director of Market Research, had revealed on Reddit that plans are afloat to showcase live coverage of the Barcelona winter test which they have indeed announced now. The coverage only limits to the first test which is same as Sky Sports.
In fact, it is more or less certain that the commentators will be same for both the coverage while the analysis or post-show could have different personnel with F1 having Will Buxton as their main face – who did all the shows during the 2018 season.
The F1 TV Pro users will get to watch eight hours of action which will be divided in two parts with one hour of lunch in between. The morning session at Barcelona will start at 09:00 local time and run until 13:00 hour with one hour lunch from 13:00 to 14:00.
The afternoon session will start at 14:00 and go on until 18:00 which will be followed by one hour of ‘Review Show’ from 18:00 to 19:00 for all days from February 18 until February 21. The second test’s Review Show will be telecasted on March 1.
“Following the beta launch of F1 TV last year, our goal is to continue to enhance the product to include more markets, content and platforms,” said Frank Arthofer, Director of Digital, Licensing and New Business at Formula 1.
“Our ambition is to provide fans with a terrific product that allows them to personalise their viewing experience and deepen the insight available to them about the sport they love. By broadcasting testing for the first time, we are ensuring F1 TV Pro subscribers are rewarded with all the latest action from pre-season.”
The 2018 season had 59 countries in all where fans could subscribe the F1 TV Pro. The new release has eight more countries to the list with the likes of Cyprus, Denmark, Greece, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and Sweden joining in.
The 2018 list includes: Argentina, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Bosnia, British Virgin Islands, Bulgaria, Caribbean Netherlands, Cayman Islands, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Curaçao, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, France, Germany, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Jamaica, Luxembourg, Martinique, Mexico, Monaco, Montserrat, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Romania, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Martin, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Serbia, Saint Maarten, Slovenia, South Tyrol, Switzerland, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Turks and Caicos Islands, Ukraine, United States Virgin Islands, Uruguay, USA and Venezuela.
In addition to the winter test coverage, F1 has released in-house produced documentary named ‘Michael Schumacher: The Making of A Legend’ which is a first by the sport. It is available to the subscribers of F1 TV Pro and F1 TV Access.