Formula 1 returns this weekend, with Melbourne hosting the third round of the 2023 season.
For a long time, Albert Park was the traditional opening race of the F1 campaign, but this hasn’t been the case since the Covid-19 pandemic.
Max Verstappen currently leads the Drivers’ Championship after the first two races, holding a narrow lead over team-mate Sergio Perez.
Perez took victory at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix last time out, with Verstappen taking the fastest lap on the final tour of the Jeddah circuit to retain his lead in the title fight.
Red Bull will be favourites once again given the speed it displayed in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, while Ferrari and Mercedes will be looking to be closer to the front.
For European fans, the sessions occur at less-than-favourable times and early rises are a must if they wish to catch the on-track action live.
Below, see the sessions and their start times.
| Session | Date | Time (Local) | Time (BST) | Time (ET) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FP1 | Friday, March 31 | 12:30 – 13:30 | 02:30 – 03:30 | 21:30 – 22:30 |
| FP2 | Friday, March 31 | 16:00 – 17:00 | 06:00 – 07:00 | 01:00 – 02:00 |
| FP3 | Saturday, April 1 | 12:30 – 13:30 | 02:30 – 03:30 | 21:30 – 22:30 |
| Qualifying | Saturday, April 1 | 16:00 – 17:00 | 06:00 – 07:00 | 01:00 – 02:00 |
| Australian Grand Prix | Sunday, April 2 | 16:00 – 17:00 | 06:00 | 01:00 – 02:00 |
| Team | Engine | Car | Nationality | Drivers | Driver No. | Rounds | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Red Bull | Red Bull | RB19 |   | Max Verstappen Sergio Perez | 1 11 | All All |
 | Ferrari | Ferrari | SF23 |   | Charles Leclerc Carlos Sainz | 16 55 | All All |
 | Mercedes | Mercedes | W14 |  | Lewis Hamilton George Russell | 44 63 | All All |
 | Alpine | Renault | A523 | | Esteban Ocon Pierre Gasly | 31 10 | All All |
| McLaren | Mercedes | MCL60 |  | Lando Norris Oscar Piastri | 4 81 | All All |
| Alfa Romeo | Ferrari | C43 |   | Valtteri Bottas Guanyu Zhou | 77 24 | All All |
| Aston Martin | Mercedes | AMR23 |  | Fernando Alonso Lance Stroll | 14 18 | All All |
 | Haas | Ferrari | Haas VF-23 |  | Kevin Magnussen Nico Hulkenberg | 20 27 | All All |
| AlphaTauri | Red Bull | AT04 |  | Yuki Tsunoda Nyck de Vries Daniel Ricciardo | 22 21 3 | All 01-10 11-22 |
| Williams | Mercedes | FW45 |  | Alex Albon Logan Sargeant | 23 2 | All All |
How to watch the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
Coverage of all the action in the UK and Ireland will be shown live, with free-to-air highlights available later in the day.
Watch Live: Sky Sports F1 will broadcast every session live, as well as build-up and post-session shows to qualifying and the race.
Highlights: Channel 4 will provide highlight shows of the qualifying and race sessions, a number of hours after the live event has ended on Sky Sports.
Live Stream: Sky Sports subscribers will be able to catch all of the action through the Sky Go app, which requires an internet connection to access. Alternatively, they can access through NOW TV.
TV broadcast start times
Sky Sports F1
Friday: FP1 – 02:00 | FP2 – 05:45
Saturday: FP3 – 02:15 | Qualifying – 05:15
Sunday: Australian Grand Prix – 04:30
Channel 4
Saturday: Qualifying – 11:15
Sunday: Australian Grand Prix – 12:30
How to stream the Australian Grand Prix
F1TV, the sport’s own streaming service, will broadcast testing in territories where the service is available. The list of countries in which F1 TV Pro is available can be found here.
Discussion about this post