As I’m sure many of you have heard, this morning it was announced that coverage of Formula 1 from 2012-2018 would be shared between the BBC and Sky. The BBC will air half the races, while Sky Sports will show all the practice sessions as well as qualifying and all the races.

This is obviously sad news as the BBC coverage has been fantastic from start to finish. However, the bigger news is the cost for F1 fans. In the Concorde Agreement it says that Formula 1 must be free to view, but I wonder whether Sky can bypass that by not making the coverage pay-per-view.

But, and this is the bad news, even if the coverage is free you still need Sky – something I do not have in my prehistoric house. A quick bit of research and I have found out the following…

First, I need to buy a Sky box and get that installed. This is something I can thankfully do as I can install a dish on my roof. Many people can’t because of planning restrictions. Once I’ve done that I then need to pay for the monthly sports package and that will cost, at the very least, £480 a year.

Of course, more news will emerge soon on how this will all work, so I am not writing off the money yet. However, this is a very big step for a sport that relies entirely on sponsorship and therefore viewing figures around the globe.

We all know how much it costs to cover Grand Prix racing and we understand that the BBC needs to cut costs. The other day, though, I read a piece in one of the broadsheets that said, ‘the BBC sent over 50 people to cover the Olympic Games ceremony while Sky managed to get away with only 11’. Something doesn’t quite add up here.

What are your thoughts? Will you still be watching Formula 1 on Sky?