- Formula 1 stays on Sky Sports in the UK and Ireland until 2034.
- Apple TV’s expansion ambitions pushed Sky to act fast and pay more.
- Martin Brundle’s 22-year Sky journey now has no end in sight.
Sky Sports has extended its exclusive Formula 1 broadcasting rights in the United Kingdom and Ireland through to the end of the 2034 season.
The five-year extension is valued at approximately £1 billion. This makes it one of the largest television deals ever struck for a sport outside football. The agreement was announced on 6 May 2026.
The new contract is understood to cost around £200 million per year. That figure represents a sharp rise from the previous deal, a six-year arrangement running from 2023 to 2029, which was estimated at £129 million annually.
The timing was deliberate. Sky moved to secure the extension before Apple, whose ambitions in Formula 1 broadcasting have grown rapidly, could mount a challenge for UK rights.
The announcement came less than seven months after Formula 1 signed a $150 million-a-season deal with Apple to broadcast races live in the United States.
What the deal covers
All races, qualifying and practice sessions will remain exclusively live on Sky Sports F1 and available to stream on NOW.
Free-to-air television will carry live coverage of home nation races and highlights of every Grand Prix.
The British Grand Prix at Silverstone will therefore remain accessible to viewers without a Sky subscription. This is something which had been a point of concern for fans.
The deal also covers Formula 2, Formula 3, F1 Academy and the Porsche Supercup.
The agreement extends to Italy as well. Sky Italia retains exclusive rights until the end of the 2032 season, with every Grand Prix live on Sky Sport F1.
Free-to-air channel TV8 will broadcast highlights and live coverage of every Italian Grand Prix.
Formula 1 president and CEO Stefano Domenicali credited Sky’s on-screen talent and production approach for helping the sport grow in the region.
“Their world-leading approach to live broadcasting, content creation, and behind-the-scenes analysis led by a truly amazing group of on-screen talent has made the difference in continuing to grow our sport in the UK, Ireland, and Italy,” he said via Sky Sports.
Sky Group chief executive Dana Strong pointed to the sport’s momentum as a key factor in committing to the long-term deal.
“This new agreement secures Sky as the home of Formula 1 for years to come, as the sport enters an exciting era with more British talent on the grid and rising stars like Kimi Antonelli,” she said.
A record-breaking era for Formula 1 viewership
The numbers behind this deal are hard to ignore.
Since Sky became the exclusive UK and Ireland broadcaster in 2019, total viewing has risen by 90%, with viewers under 35 up 120% and female viewership more than doubling, according to Formula 1.
The 2025 season alone generated 162 million viewer hours. That’s a record for the sport on Sky’s platforms.
Much of that 2025 surge came with a story attached. Britain’s Lando Norris won the Drivers’ Championship with McLaren. The domestic excitement around his title run drove audiences higher than ever.
In Italy, the 2026 season has opened with a 25% rise in viewership, driven largely by 19-year-old Kimi Antonelli.
His first Grand Prix victory, at the Chinese Grand Prix, drew 1.2 million viewers live on Sky and a further 1.4 million on TV8.
The deal also reflects a broader tension in European broadcasting.
French media outlets L’Equipe and Auto Hebdo reported rising concern after Apple TV confirmed it wants to expand beyond the United States.
Apple executive Eddy Cue said at the Miami Grand Prix that the US was a starting point, with growth outward to follow.
Canal Plus holds French Formula 1 rights until 2029, and Cue’s comments immediately raised alarm in France. By tying down Sky until 2034, Formula 1 has signalled that traditional broadcasters still hold a central place in its European strategy.
The Apple TV factor and what it means for European broadcasting
Formula 1’s own leadership has acknowledged that European audiences are not yet ready for a full shift to streaming.
Domenicali noted earlier this year that the US is among the most mature streaming markets in the world. He said that other regions, including Europe, require a more gradual approach.
Sky’s extension reflects that thinking.
Netflix is also entering the Formula 1 live broadcasting space. The upcoming Canadian Grand Prix is set to be streamed jointly on Netflix and Apple TV, marking the first live Formula 1 race on the platform.
For now, though, UK and Italian audiences will continue to watch through Sky.
Sky’s coverage will keep its established roster of broadcasters and former world champions. Features like Martin Brundle’s grid walk, Ted’s Notebook and Bernie Collins’ pit wall analysis will all continue.
The broadcaster has also developed production tools such as the SkyPad, the Ghost Car feature and enhanced onboard camera data that have become part of how fans follow the sport.
Martin Brundle: ‘At the end of the day, it is the audience’
Martin Brundle joined Sky in 2012 after leaving the BBC, a move that drew criticism at the time.
With this extension now confirmed, his tenure at Sky will span at least 22 years of Formula 1 broadcasting. He reflected on that arc with some feeling.
“I joined in 2012 and took a bit of stick at the time for daring to leave the BBC, but I saw a commitment from Sky to Formula 1 for the future,” he told Sky Sports News. “And my goodness, today’s deal means there will have been at least 22 years of that.”
On the purpose that drives the whole operation, Brundle was direct.
“They’ve got to trust us, they’ve got to believe in us, we’ve got to tell them the story as we see it, as it unfolds, whether they like what we say or not,” he said.
“At the end of the day, that’s who we’re doing it for, it is the audience.”
He described Sky’s mission simply: to put the viewer at the venue, in the garage, on the pit wall and inside the cockpit, so they feel present throughout the entire race weekend.
With the deal signed and the 2034 horizon now set, Sky enters a new chapter of its Formula 1 partnership. The sport is heading into a period of regulation changes, new young talent and record audiences.
How those years unfold on screen will be shaped, in no small part, by the broadcaster that has carried it since 2012.
