It’s lights out and away we go from the Shanghai International Circuit this weekend, as the F1 Chinese Grand Prix returns to the calendar and hopefully with drama to follow.
With Saturday’s sprint race to get us going after qualifying 24 hours earlier, it’s an early start on Sunday morning in the UK, and here’s how you can catch all the action across the three days as Max Verstappen and Red Bull look to extend their respective leads at the top of the standings.
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F1 Chinese Grand Prix schedule (UK times)
Friday
Practice 1 – 04:30 – 05:30
Sprint Qualifying – 08:30 – 09:15
Saturday
Sprint – 04:00 – 05:00
Qualifying – 08:00 – 09:00
Sunday
Race – 08:00
How to watch the F1 Chinese Grand Prix
Where: Shanghai International Circuit
When: Race – Sunday April 21 – 08:00 (UK time)
How:
UK – Sky Sports F1, NOW TV
USA – ESPN
Canada – TSN/RDS
Austria/Germany – Sky Sport F1
Australia – Fox Sports
Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden – Viasat Sport
France – Canal Sport
Spain – DAZN
F1 Chinese Grand Prix preview, predictions
It’s been business as usual so far this season for Verstappen, with the reigning champion winning three of four races to sit top of the drivers standings.
Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez is his closest rival as the team lead the way in the Constructors standings too, with Ferrari offering the fiercest competition thus far.
The 2023 race in Shanghai was cancelled, and so the drivers will no doubt be itching to get back to the track this time round, but given what we’ve seen to date, how can we back anyone other than Verstappen and Red Bull to do the business here again?
That in turn makes it more intriguing to see who will get closest to them this weekend, and so the value likely lies with either Charles Leclerc or Carlos Sainz securing a spot on the podium again, with the McLaren duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri pushing them hard if recent form is anything to go by.