Not sure how I feel about this season ....

[Kizmiaz]

I'm not in a position to pay for Sky so I am a bit meh about F1 this year. Normally by now I have the race dates in my diary and I'm thinking about the car launches coming up. I don't like football or any other sport (bike racing is now highlights) and am feeling a bit hard done by.
I want to say stuff it but I know quietly I'm missing out.

[24lemons]

I feel the same really. I used to plan my weekends around watching F1 live but with it going to sky and, IMO the general decline in the quality of the sport, I feel far less enthusiastic about it.

One positive that has come out of it is that I have discovered the fabulous IMSA series, wonderful sports car races like Bathurst 12hr (starts today at 6.30pm) and the Nurburgring and spa 24hr races, all free to watch online. I also have found Indycar through BT.

I still plan weekends around Motorsport, just not F1 anymore.

[chunder27]

My advice? Try and get into something else, F1 does not owe you anything, if you don't want to watch it, try something else?

I switched to MotoGp years ago and enjoy it far more

I still take a very casual interesting in f1, but stopped watching it religiously 5 or 6 years ago.

Honestly, you won't miss it, and will be amazed you watched it for so long!

[Turbotechnic]

Same here, I use to plan my Sundays around F1 but I cannot afford Sky and tbh even if I could I wouldn’t buy it just out of principle.

I’m going to make more of an effort to watch BTCC races instead, ITV4’s coverage is very good and most of all it’s free (sort of).

[NoAdverseDevelopments]

Same feeling here, races just aren't the same when they're not live. Will give the C4 highlights a go for the first few races and then see how I feel after that. If it's a cracking season it'll keep my interest high but if it's a so-so one it might mean my 20 years of watching every race in some form will end.

[JonChalk]

I think I'm going to do the opposite and NowTV the first few weekends, see how Norris and Russell get on, see if Ferrari and RB challenge Merc, then resort to C4 highlights if looks like being dull.

[The Vambo]

I will be illegally streaming all the buildup and every race, eff them.

[Simes205]

Find a friend / family member who has sky and ask if they don’t mind givjng you access to their sky go account.

[sandman77]

Simes205 said:

Find a friend / family member who has sky and ask if they don’t mind givjng you access to their sky go account.

This is exactly what I do. My parents pay sky a small fortune every month so I have no guilt about using their details to access sky go.

[Athlon]

First season I will not be watching since I was kid. Shame as I was really into F1 for years but I refuse to take a Sky package just for that so I will watch BTCC more closely this year.

[kambites]

I'll probably watch the highlights on C4; maybe the odd live race in the pub. I'm not giving any money to Sky though.

[Kraken]

Plenty of motorsport available for free (legally) these days. F1 no longer has the monopoly on motorsport viewership it once did and with the move behind paywalls it's cutting its own throat IMO.

[Angpozzuto]

This year I've decided to cancel my sky sports subscription, I'm struggling to justify the cost just to watch f1. I've got to say I feel a bit weird waiting for the car launches but knowing I'm not going to watch the races

[MG CHRIS]

After the first 2 formula e races im more excited about watching that than f1. AT least the cars can race and follow each other, yes some of the things are gimiky but at least they race. Plus I be racing myself with a rx8 with a mate of mine so expect that too take up a lot more of my time.

[mikecassie]

I stopped paying for Sky about 1 year ago, I still like to watch F1 but if I'm home and have time to watch a race live I'll pay for a Now TV pass. I do admit to being less enthusiastic over the last few years than I was, especially in the mid 2000's.

I watch Moto GP as well and that is so much more interesting. Watching the lower Classes of Moto 2 & 3 is also great, some of the slip streaming battles in Moto 3 is amazing. Now that F1 drivers are cocooned further away from the cameras when driving, watching Moto GP riders hanging off their bikes, or in Marquez's case, hanging onto it while it slides along the track until the front wheel grips and he picks it up again is something otherwordly.

Those leather clad gladiators are on another level compared to Hamilton, Verstappen and the rest of the Nomex gang...

I hope Russell and Norris do well in 2019 and don't disappear up their own arse like many drivers have done.

[LaurasOtherHalf]

I pay for Sky. We’ve discussed the cost which to be frank is expensive as considering the other options (Netflix for instance) the quality per programme just isn’t worth it-what do we watch that is exclusive to Sky? Very little...

However...

F1 is now probably my only sporting passion now and I can revolve race weekends around family time and make it work. I can’t emphasise enough that I still absolutely love the sport.

So Sky for us equates to something like £600 a year which when I split it down to a cost per hour is actually very little. On an average F1 weekend I reckon I’ll watch 5 hours of it with family - mum and dad, kids, wife, we all enjoy it and make a lot of race weekends family events - Breakfast meets for the fly aways, Sunday roasts at ours for the afternoon sessions and best of all evening races with a nice bottle.

So even if you watch 20 races, 5 hours per event at £600 it’s in my mind, value for money.

We also get everything else on Sky effectively for free-True Detective for instance to name but one.

I won’t claim that’s good enough for everyone but it works for me.

£600 per annum for a hobby that brings my family together isn’t bad value-some of my mates into road cycling spend a heck of a lot more than that on their individual hobbies-and it’s a darn sight cheaper than track days!

Just a differing viewpoint

[coppice]

My advice - stop watching TV, You can do that when you are old and broke . Catch up if you are desperate for your F1 fix but do as I do - go and watch live motor sport . I take in everything from drag racing via Autograss and speed hill climbs to racing , modern and historic. I get out to some lovely places , meet great people and get up close to a huge variety of cars - from 8000bhp dragsters to 80s F1 cars . All in 3D with sensurround sound too - and I decide what to watch , not the TV director

Try it - it sure as hell beats watching telly from your sofa.

[DoubleD]

I will probably pay the £18 per month for F1 for the 1st month and see if I feel its worth it or not.

[Smollet]

I saw my first GP at Brands in 1966 so I’ve had mixed feelings about every season since but still look forward to them. Probably this one more than last years as I’m of the opinion both Maclaren and Williams will perform better and also the added bonus they now both have a British driver. I still can’t see Lewis being beaten but looking forward to Leclerc in a Ferrari, Kimi in the Alfa, how the new RBR Honda fares and especially can DR revive the fortunes of Renault. I’m also subscribed to Sky and won’t be changing it any time soon. Has its faults but generally very good.

Edited by Smollet on Sunday 3rd February 10:20

[Kraken]

I have a few different subscriptions to streaming services, Motortrendondemand, WEC, Netflix, and Amazon prime. One thing they all have in common is that they don't force me to pay for other channels I don't want and they don't have adverts. I really can't get my head around paying for a service and then having adverts on it. Problem with Now TV is that the pass isn't long enough to get all the sessions plus you have the advert issue.