How to watch the 2024 F1 Australian Grand Prix: start time, live stream and TV schedule
F1
F1 action on the streets of Melbourne is fast approaching: full details on how to watch the 2024 Australian Grand Prix, plus live stream, TV schedule and highlights
More Verstappen-led domination? Or F1's first taste of chaos in 2024?
The 2024 Australian Grand Prix will see a return to the norm in some respects, with the race weekend reverting back to its familiar schedule: practice on Friday, qualifying on Saturday, and racing on Sunday.
But to catch a glimpse of the on-track action, it’ll require an early start for those watching in the UK, with Saturday’s qualifying session beginning at 5am followed by Sunday’s Grand Prix which starts at 4am.
As with the rest of this season, F1’s 38th trip Down Under can be watched or streamed live via subscription, while Channel 4 will broadcast highlights on free-to-view TV.
The race result in Saudi Arabia told a very familiar story, with Max Verstappen leading from lights out to the chequered flag, with team-mate Sergio Perez trailing 13 seconds behind him. Ferrari‘s Charles Leclerc aimed to disrupt a second consecutive Red Bull 1-2 finish by putting his SF-24 on the front row during qualifying, but was unable to keep pace with the RB20.
The Red Bull is likely to once more have the edge in Melbourne but the Albert Park street circuit showed that teams can’t take anything for granted after a chaotic first lap was followed by drivers being caught out by its high-speed corners, and further disarray during restarts. Only 12 cars completed the full race distance.
If the Red Bulls are caught up in an incident, then Ferrari, Mercedes, McLaren or Aston Martin all look to have a chance of snatching a surprise result.
One driver in need of a strong performance is RB’s Daniel Ricciardo who received a warning shot from red bull consultant Helmut Marko, who wants to see the Australian “come up with something” at his home race. Team-mate Yuki Tsunoda has throughly impressed in qualifying and could knock Ricciardo out of contention for a seat at Red Bull in 2025 if he continues to outshine the Australian.
Australian Grand Prix live stream and TV schedule
All times in GMT
F1 Qualifying
Saturday 23 March
Australian Grand Prix
Sunday 24 March
Session start time
5am
4am
Live coverage Sky Sports, Sky Go, NowTV
4.15am
2.30am
Highlights Channel 4
10.15am
12.30pm
How to watch F1: live stream and TV details for 2024 Australian Grand Prix
Each minute of every F1 session will be broadcast live in the UK, but for paying subscribers only.
Live TV: All on-track sessions will be broadcast live on Sky Sports F1 starting with Free Practice 1 on Friday at 1.30am. Subscribers also have access to onboard streams from each of the 20 cars, including radio messages, allowing them to follow a favourite driver on their phone while watching the main feed on TV. The onboard streams are also available on TV, as is a ‘Battle Channel’ offering split-screen coverage of the best fights for position.
Live stream: Sky Sports F1 subscribers in the UK can watch all the running live on the Sky Go app. Now TV subscribers can also see live coverage of every session via Sky Sports F1. It also offers onboard views of each driver through in-app bonus streams for monthly subscribers. These can be viewed concurrently with the main stream on a separate screen.
Live timings are available through the F1 app.
Highlights: Channel 4 will show highlights of the weekend, with action from Saturday’s qualifying session and Sunday’s Grand Prix available to watch later on the respective days of each event.
Albert Park circuit and details
Redesigned prior to its return to the F1 calendar in 2022, Albert Park is now among the fastest circuits on the F1 calendar — partly thanks due to the addition of four DRS zones, with at least one high-speed section in each sector.
14 corners — each of which are mostly taken at medium to high speed — blend together this 3.26-mile strip of tarmac, but with major hazards looming just off of the racing line, in the form of gravel traps and concrete barriers, Albert Park grands prix can be incident-packed.
In 2023, the race was red flagged twice — the first caused by Alex Albon‘s spinning Williams which sent gravel cascading all over Turn 1 and the second caused by Kevin Magnussen‘s Haas which hit the outside of Turn 2 and sent his rear left wheel flying across the circuit. In between, Max Verstappen and George Russell jostled for the lead, while Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz charged impressively through the field.
But many drivers’ hard work was undone via a hectic restart just two laps from the chequered flag. Carlos Sainz received a five-second penalty after colliding with Fernando Alonso; Pierre Gasly collided with Alpine team-mate Esteban Ocon in spectacular fashion; and Logan Sargeant rear-ended the AlphaTauri of Nyck de Vries.
Late restart saw frantic first-corner action
Qian Jun/MB Media/Getty Images
The chaos was a showcase of the peril of passing in Melbourne, but if drivers can show restraint, their patience can be rewarded.
The opening chicane at Turns 1 and 2 is a prominent overtaking zone for those who gain good drive down the DRS-assisted home straight, but if they can’t get the move done there, the tight right-handers at Turn 3 and 11, or the riskier high-paced Turns 10 and 11 can provide further opportunity.
Full F1 schedule for 2024, including next year's calendar and circuit guides for the biggest-ever grand prix season
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Motor Sport
The last three Australian Grands Prix have been won by three different drivers from three different constructors — Verstappen for Red Bull in 2023, Leclerc for Ferrari in 2022 and Valtteri Bottas for Mercedes in 2019. Given its recent form, Red Bull will continue to be the favourites. But after strong showings from Mercedes last year — which qualified second and third on the grid — and from Ferrari in 2022 — as Charles Leclerc took pole position and the race win — the Milton Keynes outfit may have to fight a little harder to reach the chequered flag first.
No rain is expected throughout the race weekend, although temperatures during qualifying and the race are set to spike to 28°C — making cooling crucial for drivers and their cars.
F2 — Round 3
For the second year in a row, Formula 2 will follow its senior series to Melbourne where Oliver Bearman is set to make a return to his Prema seat after a heroic F1 drive for Ferrari in Jeddah.
The Briton had scored an F2 pole position ahead of Kush Maini and Jak Crawford before being called up to fulfil his reserve duties, and ultimately allowed Dennis Hauger and Enzo Fittipaldi to take hard-fought victories in the sprint and feature races respectively. With Bearman now back, the fight at the front of the field could be closer than ever.
Mercedes junior Kimi Antonelli is seemingly still adapting to life in the series and is yet to make a serious impression. Could he finally find his feet in Melbourne? The Italian driver still has plenty of rounds to convince Toto Wolff that he’s worthy of a 2025 F1 race seat alongside George Russell.
Zane Maloney currently remains at the top of the standings, with a healthy 15-point advantage over second-place Fittipaldi.
