Japan's Suzuka Circuit is one of Formula 1's most storied and beloved venues on the calendar. The old-school, 3.6-mile track has played host to some legendary motorsport moments — from Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost's repeated clashes for the title, to Michael Schumacher's engine failure that doomed his title hopes in 2006.
With Mercedes coming off a dominant 1-2 finish two weeks ago in Russia that saw Lewis Hamilton taking his first victory in four races, all eyes will be on the German team to stave off Ferrari's late-season surge and finish the year strong. However, the conversation entering the weekend has been less about any racing, and more about the massive typhoon spinning toward Japan that could very well cancel the event, as it's already pushed qualifying to Sunday morning.
Here's how you can live stream the 2019 Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix, based on the schedule at the time of writing. We'll update this story with the latest information should any more sessions be postponed or cancelled.
BREAKING: Saturday's track action at Suzuka has been cancelled due to Typhoon Hagabis.Qualifying will now take place on Sunday at 10:00 local time.The race will go ahead at 14:10, Sunday as planned #JapaneseGP 🇯🇵 #F1 https://t.co/A22Br0wfBsOctober 11, 2019
The race is still on target for Sunday, Oct. 13 at 2 p.m. local time at Suzuka — or 1 a.m. Eastern and 10 p.m. (Saturday) Pacific for those in the U.S., and 6 a.m. BST if you’re watching from the United Kingdom.
Qualifying was originally set to kick off Saturday (Oct. 12), but Typhoon Hagabis has forced organizers to postpone it until Sunday morning, four hours before the race, at 10 a.m. local time. That translates to 9 p.m. Saturday Eastern | 6 p.m. Saturday Pacific | 2 a.m. Sunday BST.
Practice 1 and 2 will continue as scheduled on Oct. 11, as the worst of the storm isn't expected to roll in until the following day. The first Practice begins at 9 p.m. Thursday Eastern | 6 p.m. Thursday Pacific | 2 a.m. Friday BST. Practice 2 is four hours later, at 1 a.m. Friday Eastern | 10 p.m. Thursday Pacific | 6 a.m. Friday BST.
How can I live stream the F1 2019 Japanese GP in the U.S.?
ESPN has exclusive broadcast rights for F1 on television in the U.S., syndicating the Sky Sports F1 feed from the U.K. entirely without commercials. The Japanese Grand Prix will be shown on ESPN2, which you can access either through your cable or satellite provider as well as via the ESPN app, so long as you authenticate with your provider's login credentials.
ESPN's race day coverage actually begins an hour and a half before the lights go green, on ESPN3 with Formula 1: Pit Lane Live on Saturday at 11:30 p.m. Eastern and 8 p.m. Pacific. Coverage then moves to ESPNEWS at 12:30 a.m. (Sunday) Eastern and 9:30 p.m. Pacific for Formula 1: On The Grid. The race kicks off a half hour later on ESPN2.
Qualifying also airs on ESPN2, and the three practice sessions will be shown on ESPNEWS, ESPN2 and ESPNU, in that order.
If you don't have a way to tune into ESPN's coverage, you could always live stream via F1 TV Pro. This is F1's own global streaming service that offers the full broadcast experience for the race, qualifying and practice sessions. There's live timing and scoring, on-board feeds for every car and a wealth of archival content as well, featuring classic races from decades past. F1 TV Pro costs $10 for a month-long subscription.
How do I use a VPN to live stream the F1 2019 Japanese GP?
If you’re traveling outside the country, but don’t want to miss the race, a virtual private network, or VPN, could be an ideal choice. Choosing a service could be a challenge, but fortunately, we’ve tested out many different offerings to find out who offers the best overall VPN. Our top pick is ExpressVPN, which offers superb speeds that will meet the needs of most users, but you’ve got other options as well.
Where can I live stream the F1 2019 Japanese GP in the U.K.?
F1 fans in the United Kingdom will have to tune into Sky Sports F1 to watch every session of every Grand Prix weekend for the remainder of the season. Those who don't have access to the paid F1 network can tune into Channel 4's highlights packages after the race, during primetime on Sunday nights. Notably, the Sky Sports team of David Croft and Martin Brundle don't call the races on Channel 4; that honor falls to Steve Jones and David Coulthard.
Sky Sports' race day coverage from the pit lane commences at 4:30 a.m. BST; the event starts an hour and a half later, at 6 a.m. British fans without terrestrial TV won’t be able to tune into F1 TV Pro, as that service is not available in the U.K. However, in lieu of that, you could live stream with a Now TV Sky Sports Day Pass, which will set you back £9. There is also a week pass available, at £15, if you don’t want to miss other sessions besides the race.
Where can I live stream F1 2019 Japanese GP behind-the-scenes content?
Fortunately, the answer to this one is simple and free: YouTube. Formula 1 posts all of its supplementary Grand Prix content to the website, including driver briefings, highlights for each and every session and the Paddock Pass — roughly 15 to 30 minute-long programs that dive into the storylines surrounding the weekend, once after qualifying, and then again before and after the race. It's a great way to keep up with which teams are looking strong leading up to the Grand Prix.
On television, fans in both the U.S. and U.K. can catch Sky Sports' half hour-long preview show on Thursday called Welcome To The Weekend. In the U.S., this program aired on ESPN3 at 4 a.m. Eastern and 1 a.m. Pacific. In the U.K., it aired concurrently at 9 a.m. BST. If you missed it, it's available for streaming in both regions.
