The BBC has announced it is to give up its contract to show Formula 1 races on British TV three years early. The corporation has made the decision due to the need to save money, as the global nature of the sport leads to high production costs. Channel 4 is rumoured to be picking up the contract, which would allow the channel to show half of the races on the calendar live and the other half as highlights. BBC radio 5 will retain its commentary until 2021.
The BBC has shown Formula 1 races since the sport was first aired on television in the 70’s, and has done a great job of presenting the sport, winning several awards. Legendary commentator Murray Walker said “I am enormously sad that the BBC is losing F1, ever since 1978 it has done a superlative job.” With a rather lacklustre 2015 season and millions of savings to be made at the BBC, F1 was a prime candidate for the chop, but I for one will miss it on the Beeb. Hopefully, channel 4 will do a good job with the coverage in 2016 and hopefully there will be some exciting racing to make their job easier.
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