Formula 1 Qualifying Highlights Channel 4

Hamilton took pole position for the inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand Prix after his title rival Verstappen looked set to beat him only to crash at the final corner. In Saturday's exciting qualifying session – current F1 Drivers Championship leader Verstappen hit the wall in his 27th and final qualifying lap, as Hamilton jumped to the top of the qualifying charts with 80 seconds remaining in the clock. Hamilton's Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas qualified for the race on Sunday at P2 and Verstappen at P3, having managed to finish as third fastest.

If Hamilton wins this weekend and secures the extra point for the fastest lap then he will move level with Verstappen heading into a remarkable final race. On the other hand, this will be Verstappen's first chance to wrap up the Formula 1 Drivers' title. If he finishes first and Hamilton 7th or lower, the Dutchman will be crowned champion. The same applies if Verstappen finishes 2nd and Hamilton drops out of the race. Here is a look at how to watch Saudi Arabian Grand Prix main race in India, the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix live streaming details.

Grand PrixExternal linksWebsiteChannel 4 F1, commonly abbreviated to C4F1, is a British television programme dedicated to the coverage of Formula One motor racing and has been aired by the British broadcaster Channel 4 since 2016. Prior to 2019, half of the season's practice, qualifying sessions and races were shown live, with all other events covered in an extended qualifying and race highlights format. For those on a budget, once again there are extended highlights of all F1 races on Channel 4, with additional live coverage of the British Grand Prix in July. A last-minute rights deal meant the Channel 4 also showed live coverage of the Abu Dhabi finale, though using the Sky Sports F1 feed and commentary. Channel 4's commentator called the inaugural Saudi GP "an incredible day of confusion," which is an understatement – this will go down as one of the most contentious races of all time.

But it delivered on thrills and means a final race of the season with the two leading drivers tied on points, as the incredible 2021 season reaches its conclusion. Channel 4 will continue to broadcast free-to-air highlights of every qualifying session and race throughout the 2021 Formula 1 season, plus live coverage of the British Grand Prix weekend on July. Steve Jones and David Coulthard present highlights of Sprint Qualifying action from the Autódromo José Carlos Pace in São Paulo. Last year's race here was one of those cancelled due to Covid, so the drivers haven't had a chance to test their mettle on the hilly, physically demanding circuit for two years. Back in 2019 it was Max Verstappen who secured pole ahead of Vettel and Hamilton. The Red Bull driver has also secured his place at the front of the grid both of the previous times that the new Sprint Qualifying format has been used this season.

With that in mind, he'll be confident of producing a repeat performance this time out. Beginning 2019, Sky Sports hold exclusive rights to all races excluding the British Grand Prix. In September 2018, it was announced that Channel 4 had agreed to a sub-licensing agreement with Sky, under which it broadcasts free-to-air highlights of all races, and live coverage of the British Grand Prix. As part of the arrangement, Sky will have rights to carry full series of Channel 4 dramas on-demand, while Channel 4 also acquired free-to-air rights to the Sky drama Tin Star.

Sky's race day coverage of this weekend's Abu Dhabi grand prix will also simulcast on Channel 4, as mentioned above. All Sky customers will have access to qualifying on Saturday and the race via Sky Showcase. However, Sky Sports F1 will be the only place where you can watch every session, including free practice, as well as the Formula 2 finale.

Channel 4 has free-to-air Formula 1 qualifying and race highlights which usually start airing a few hours after the chequered flag has been waved. It also has live free-to-air coverage of the British grand prix every year, and is home of the all-women's W Series. Going into the final grand prix of the year at Abu Dhabi's Yas Marina circuit, Max Verstappen and Sir Lewis Hamilton are tied on 369.5 points each. The last time where the two leading Formula 1 drivers in the championship went into the final race tied on points was in 1974. Channel 4, who normally only have rights for a highlights show in the evening after a race, have struck a deal for live coverage in Abu Dhabi, with the race starting at 1pm UK time on Sunday afternoon.

The second of the back-to-back races at the Red Bull Ring saw Verstappen pick up where he left off, delighting the Austrian crowd with pole position and then leading every lap of his team's home grand prix. A huge number of Dutch fans also mad there way to Austria to watch their hero dominate proceedings. The drama dutifully returned on the street circuit of Azerbaijan's capital, with a joint-record four red flags brought out during Saturday's qualifying session. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc managed to grasp pole position for the second race in a row but failed to keep it beyond lap two, when he was overtaken by Lewis Hamilton. After that the Monegasque went backwards down the order but recovered to fourth.

Hamilton earned the 100th pole position of his career in Barcelona, but duly gave up first position on the first corner of the grand prix, having no option but to sacrifice the spot to an aggressive move by Max Verstappen. A tense, race-long battle then commenced, but it was ultimately Hamilton and Mercedes, making excellent use of a two-stop strategy, who came out on top, overtaking Verstappen with six laps of the race to go for his third win in the season's first four races. Sky Sports F1 and Channel 4, who belatedly struck a deal for the season finale, will have live coverage for Sunday's race. Sky Sports F1 will show every aspect of the build up, including practice and qualifying as both drivers aim to gain a crucial advantage before the chequered flag. Additionally, every Sky TV customer will be able to watch everything from qualifying on Saturday to the race on Sunday, with the broadcast shared across Sky Sports and Sky Showcase. All the action from this iconic head-to-head will also be available to NOW members with either a NOW Entertainment or NOW Sports membership.

Under the current contract subscription service Sky Sports broadcasts all sessions exclusively live, typically on its dedicated channel Sky Sports F1, with FTA Channel 4 showing qualifying and race highlights later in the day. The new commercial deal penned between Sky Sports and Channel 4 has allowed British fans of the Formula One to tune in via free-to-air television on certain occasions. This new deal means that highlights of all Formula 1 races and live coverage of the Formula 1 British Grand Prix will continue to be shown on Channel 4. Another exciting element of the 2021 F1 season was the debut of Sprint Qualifying. The 100km races determined the starting grid for Sunday's grands prix and awarded championship points to the top three drivers.

Hamilton stands on the brink of history - victory in Abu Dhabi would clinch an eighth world title and confirm him as the greatest F1 driver ever. This unique final race will go lights out with the two leading drivers on equal points, the Yas Marina track providing a 'winner takes all' close to an epic season. Hamilton and title rival Max Verstappen enter the final race of the season tied on points, making it a winner-takes-all finale at the Yas Marina Circuit. The two drivers have enjoyed the closest title fight between rivals teams since 2012, and it marks the first final race decider since 2016. His championship rival, though, in a damaged Red Bull had a worse afternoon and only scored a single point.

Sky Sports F1 will carry live build up on Sunday from 11.30am in UHD with the 'Sports Recap' function available throughout the race, which is due to start at 1pm. The live race will then see Sky Sports' coverage aired across Sky channels and Channel 4, including the Sky commentary team and expert analysis. Sky has announced a partnership with Channel 4 that will see Sky Sports' live coverage of the thrilling Formula 1 season finale shared with the whole country right before Christmas, on what could be an historic occasion for Sir Lewis Hamilton. The most thrilling Formula One season in years has come down to the final race.

A straight shootout between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will decide the destination of the 2021 drivers' championship. Alpine are due to give new Formula 2 champion Oscar Piastri some track time, while both Ferrari and Haas will test another Formula 2 driver, Robert Shwartzman. Mercedes welcomes Formula E champion Nyck de Vries, and Formula 2's Logan Sargeant makes his debut in a Williams. All teams will be obliged to run rookies in free practice sessions from 2022, so expect to see a lot more of them during grands prix weekends. What does all this mean for the championship after a close, dramatic and often controversial season? Will Max win his first ever drivers' title, or will Lewis add an eighth to his record-equalling haul?

All will be revealed this weekend – and here's how to keep in tune with the action. Sky's schedules show that the broadcaster will simulcast their race day offering across Sky Sports F1 and Sky Sports Main Event, but not via Sky Showcase, as they did last month for coverage of the US Grand Prix qualifying session. Skysports.com/f1 – has all the latest news, interviews, features and video content, including previews and race highlights. Sky Sports will be the only place to watch every practice, qualifying and race day throughout the 2021 Formula 1 season on its dedicated channel. Channel 4's team of Steve Jones, David Coulthard, Mark Webber and Lee McKenzie will provide build-up to the race for 15 minutes from midday before handing over to Sky for their pre-race coverage and Sky's live coverage of the race itself.

Under the terms of the deal, Channel 4 will broadcast Sky's production of the live race coverage with its presenting team of Nico Rosberg, Jenson Button, Martin Brundle, Nat Pinkham, David Croft, Karun Chandhok, Simon Lazenby and Ted Kravitz. Cars will take to the track for two practice sessions before final practice and qualifying on Saturday. Meanwhile Stroll was by the accident ahead and drove into the side of Leclerc. After a safety car, teams were told there would be a standing start from the grid, but just beforehand all the drivers except leader Hamilton dived into the pits for slick tyres, as the track was drying. The result was controversial and a fitting end to a rollercoaster of a year; one shaken up by the coronavirus pandemic, with races cancelled and replaced due to restrictions, but also easily one of the most exciting and dramatic we've seen in decades. It's more than 40 years since two drivers had entered the final round on equal points, and many believe Verstappen and Hamilton's titanic battle to be one of the all-time great F1 rivalries.

But a deal has been reached to show the Abu Dhabi decider on terrestrial television, which will include each channels showing their own pre and post-race coverage with Sky's race commentary used by both. Steve Jones, David Coulthard and Mark Webber present highlights of the final race of the 2021 F1 season in Abu Dhabi, as the drivers make one last grab for all-important points. Coverage of the 2020 and 2021 seasons is sponsored by Bristol Street Motors and Macklin Motors. It was announced at the Turkish Grand Prix that Edwards would step down following the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, his replacement was announced a week later as Alex Jacques who joins from F1's official television channel, including for F2, F3 and Esports. He has also worked for BBC Radio 5 Live in a similar role at the occasional race.

Also it was later announced that 'pen interviews' would be taken from F1TV with Lawrence Barretto joining the team as paddock reporter. On 21 December 2015, the BBC announced that it would end its deal with Formula One three years early due to budget cuts and would transfer the remaining three years to Channel 4. Channel 4 would be showing ten selected races live without advertisements and every race were to be shown as highlights. Channel 4 was the first free-to-air station that ran without commercial breaks during its ten live races. If you're happy to pay a subscription fee so you can watch entire races live, then Sky is the only option in the UK. While Liberty operates an online streaming service – F1 TV Pro – you can't watch it in the UK because of Sky's exclusive deal.

If you're in the UK and you missed out on Channel 4's grand prix highlights and can't or don't want to take Sky, you can also catch up on its All4 streaming service. In the event of one of these relatively unlikely outcomes leading to a tie on points, the driver who has claimed the most wins of the season would take the title. This season, Max has won nine grands prix while Lewis has won eight, which would therefore make Max the drivers' champion if they were tied on points. In the event two drivers had the same number of points and grand prix victories, the countback continues through the highest number of second places, highest number of third places and so on.

The Silverstone weekend was Channel 4's only live action of the season, the broadcaster sharing live coverage with Sky Sports. Sky have seemingly reacted to Channel 4's qualifying conundrum by opting to simulcast their live coverage on their new Sky Showcase channel, enabling more viewers to watch qualifying across Sky, Virgin Media and BT TV. Despite the fact that so many sporting events were cancelled in the past twelve months, along with spectators being barred from being able to see their favourite teams live, there is still reason to be optimistic for sports fans.

Channel 4's team of Steve Jones, David Coulthard, Mark Webber and Lee McKenzie will provide build-up to the race for 15 minutes from midday on Sunday before handing over to Sky for their pre-race coverage and live coverage of the race itself. Under the terms of the deal, Channel 4 will broadcast Sky's production of the live race coverage with its presenting team of Nico Rosberg, Jenson Button, Martin Brundle, Nat Pinkham, David Croft, Karun Chandhok, Simon Lazenby and Ted Kravitz. All five sessions – practices, qualifying, and the race – live be shown live on Sky Sports F1, while highlights of quali and the race will be shown on Channel 4. Steve Jones and David Coulthard present highlights of Qualifying for the second round of the 2021 Formula 1 season. Following a 14-year break, Imola returned to the calendar last year, when Valtteri Bottas claimed pole. Red Bull's Max Verstappen will be keen to stop that happening again - at the first race this year, in Bahrain, he secured only his fourth ever pole position, and he'll definitely want more.

Just hearing F1 team members swearing was quite the revelation when the first series aired, and the emotions captured make the characters involved in the sport seem much more human than the sanitised live coverage suggests. The stewards initially held the backmarkers, who sat between Hamilton's lead car and Verstappen in second, behind the safety car. But with the Williams wreckage cleared away, just before the safety car pulled off the circuit on the penultimate lap, the backmarkers were released, moving Verstappen directly up to the leader's rear wing. It was an error that cost him his first victory, with Hamilton slipping by on the final lap to claim an historic 100th race win and return to the top f the driver's championship. Norris led for much of the race, and regained the advantage shortly after a late stop for a set of fresh rubber. But rain began to fall on part of the track with around five laps to go, and while its increasing intensity meant most drivers pitted for treaded tyres, Norris believed he could stay out on slicks and overruled the team's request for him to do the same.

It was "won" by Max Verstappen, who had qualified on pole, with a delighted George Russell in the Williams finishing behind him after a sensational lap on Saturday. At turn three, Esteban Ocon's Alpine was squeezed between Mick Schumacher and Antonio Giovinazzi, damaging his suspension and bringing out the safety car. Verstappen has the potential to clinch his first F1 drivers' championship, while the British appeal for fans undoubtedly lies with Hamilton and his bid to win a Michael Schumacher-beating eighth world title as the pair currently sit tied on seven. "We are excited that Sky will make the grand prix on Sunday available to Channel 4 viewers so everyone can tune in live for the thrilling finale to this epic season," he said.

The race was originally due to be shown on Sky Sports, who hold exclusive rights to live F1 races with Channel 4 broadcasting only the British GP live alongside a highlights show for each weekend. This scenario is a concern for Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff who, having watched Hamilton crash into the back of Verstappen last time out, said he thought the quicker car with the quicker driver should win the championship. For the first time since 1974, the title contenders go into the final race level on points. Seven-time world champion Hamilton, having been 19 points behind Verstappen four races ago, has drawn level after a trio of dominant performances in Brazil, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. For the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, programmes for races 1-3 were presented from The Silverstone Experience as F1 limited the number of broadcasters on site. Clarkson, who works primarily for F1 TV served as Channel 4's paddock reporter, when they were unable to access the paddock.

During coverage of the Hungarian Grand Prix, it was confirmed that they would have access to the paddock for at least the British and 70th Anniversary weekends. You used to be able watch races live on RTL Germany but Sky Germany now has exclusive rights to show live races in Germany as well. Unlike BBC iPlayer, you can't join a live broadcast and you may have to wait hours for the race highlights to appear in the app. That was certainly the case last year, with the programme appearing over four hours after broadcast on some occasions. In case you didn't know, F1 TV Pro is the official streaming service of Forumla 1 but you can't get it in the UK because of Sky's exclusive deal for live races.

Verstappen will have to beat Hamilton in Abu Dhabi to claim the drivers' title, so it should be a thrilling showdown. Of course, you're here because you want to know when the race starts and how to watch it. So without further ado, here's everything you need to know about watching the action on TV and online in the UK.

But - spoiler alert - the result, with Lewis Hamilton winning and Max Verstappen coming second , means the pair will go to the final race in Abu Dhabi pretty much as the season started, level on points. The previous deal, which ran from 2012 through 2018, and which Channel 4 took over from the BBC in 2016, enabled the terrestrial broadcaster to show half of the events live – including the season finale. Sunday's crazy race saw two red flags, multiple virtual safety car interventions and five drivers crash out before Hamilton won his eighth race of the season to level the drivers' standings.

The two men have battled across the season and have won 17 races between them during their epic tussle, with the Dutchman claiming nine victories to Hamilton's eight and they head into the finale of the year level on points following 21 Grands Prix. That growing archive includes past grands prix and highlights packages, season reviews going back to the 1970s, plus documentaries about drivers, teams and the sport's tech. You can expect to see a couple of Formula 2 drivers from Red Bull's long-running academy programme in action, including Juri Vips and Liam Lawson . McLaren will welcome IndyCar star Pato O'Ward, after he fulfilled a bet with team boss Zak Brown by winning his first race in the series earlier this year (he's spent some time in the simulator and been for a seat fitting already). Sky Sports has aired Formula 1 live and without ad breaks in the UK since 2013, on a dedicated channel, and will continue to do so in 2022. Its grand prix weekend coverage also covers the FIA's feeder series, Formula 2 and Formula 3.

Nevertheless, with a combined audience of 1.6 million viewers, the British Grand Prix marked F1's highest UK audience on a Friday since at least 2003, if not earlier. It seems likely therefore that, a fan watching Drive to Survive is more likely to jump either to highlights on YouTube or live coverage on Sky, bypassing Channel 4's extended highlights package altogether. The figures bring together those that watched Channel 4's highlights package and those who watched the races live on Sky, excluding pre- and post-race analysis for the latter. While the championship battle between Hamilton and Verstappen is bringing additional viewers to Sky's live offering, Channel 4's highlights offering is not seeing any positive impact.

With a 52-point advantage, Fabio Quartararo is odds on favourite to win his first MotoGP World Championship. As always, live coverage of every session airs on BT Sport 2, with highlights airing on ITV4. In 2016, the season finale aired live across Channel 4 and Sky Sports as part of the UK F1 TV rights agreement that was in place at that time. If Verstappen does not clinch the championship at the next round in Saudi Arabia, it will be the first time since 2016 that the championship has gone to the final race of the season. As well as all of the live F1 action this season, Sky Sports will also screen live coverage of all the support race action, including Formula 2, Formula 3 and the Porsche Super Cup.

Sky's coverage this season sees the return of The F1 Show which will preview each race in a new Thursday evening slot, plus Ted Kravitz will return with his regular qualifying and race Notebooks. It's go, go, go for a new season of Formula 1 and Sky Sports will be the only place to watch all the on-track action throughout a record 23-race schedule in 2021. Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen are level in points going into the final race of the season, with both men knowing they will claim the world title if they better their rival. As well as being shown on Channel 4, the race will be available via a live simulcast on All4 - Channel 4's on-demand channel. Viewers will be able to watch Channel 4's highlights programme on demand after it airs on Sunday evening. On Sky, the Formula 1 final race will be available both on Sky Sports and Sky Showcase – so every Sky TV customer will be able to watch everything from qualifying on Saturday to the race on Sunday.