Sunday’s showdown for the Formula One world title will be broadcast for free in the UK after Channel 4 agreed a deal with Sky Sports to air the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen take their enthralling battle for the world championship down to the last race of the season with the pair level on points as they head to Yas Marina Circuit.
The race was originally due to be shown on Sky Sports, who hold exclusive rights to live F1 races with Channel 4 broadcasting only the British GP live alongside a highlights show for each weekend.
But a deal has been reached to show the Abu Dhabi decider on terrestrial television, which will include each channels showing their own pre and post-race coverage with Sky’s race commentary used by both.
Sunday’s Saudi Arabian GP, which saw multiple incidents between Hamilton and Verstappen on track, attracted a record audience of 2.66 million to Sky’s F1 channel.
Former F1 driver Anthony Davidson has warned the pair not to “tarnish their reputations” by causing a dangerous crash on Sunday while the sport’s former boss, Bernie Ecclestone, has declared that Verstappen is being “bullied” by his rivals.
The satellite network previously agreed a deal with Channel 4 to show the 2019 Cricket World Cup final on free-to-air TV while the broadcaster also aired Emma Raducanu’s US Open final victory earlier this year, which was originally exclusive to Amazon Prime.
A Sky statement read: “We're excited to announce we've deepened our partnership with Channel 4 to broadcast Sky Sports' live coverage of the thrilling F1 season finale to the whole country.”
