Where to Watch the 2017 Formula 1 Season in the United States
Romain Grosjean in the Haas F1 during pre-season testing
Formula 1 is by far the most popular motorsport in the world, with more than 500 million people tuning in every year to watch the races. Despite this, F1 is notoriously difficult to access in some countries, and perhaps even more surprising is that this is especially true in the United States. As you may have already noticed in the way it handles soccer, the USA is still a little behind when it comes to covering the biggest global sports compared to its own national pastimes.
It’s still possible to catch every race live in the upcoming 2017 Formula 1 season even if you live in the United States, as long as you have an NBC Sports subscription and are willing to get up early on Sunday mornings. Unfortunately for Americans, the vast majority of Grand Prix are held in Europe or Asia, so that after accounting for the time zone differences, watching most races live is simply unreasonable for all but the most ardent fans.
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Another trouble is that the coverage itself isn’t all that good. The NBC hosts aren’t as knowledgeable as those over at SkyF1 in Britain, not every session is broadcast on the air, pre- and post-session analyses are lacking, and then there’s the matter of the races being interrupted every handful of laps by several minutes of commercials.
Nonetheless, all of these things come second to the racing itself, which is the main reason to watch Formula 1. Check out the table below to see the date and circuit for each Grand Prix as well as when the races will air on NBC. Keep in mind that the times reflect the race starts but that NBC will also be covering every qualifying and free practice session with the exception of FP1 (though watching these live would also require getting up even earlier in the morning).
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Kurt Verlin was born in France and lives in the United States. Throughout his life he was always told French was the language of romance, but it was English he fell in love with. He likes cats, music, cars, 30 Rock, Formula 1, and pretending to be a race car driver in simulators; but most of all, he just likes to write about it all. See more articles by Kurt.