In every county, the rights to broadcast Formula 1-races are purchased by a different party. Do you want to watch F1 live for free in 2022, but do you have no idea how and where to find a legal and costless stream? In this article, you will find the 8 best ways to watch the race, qualification and free practice of every Formula 1 Grand Prix in 2022 for free.
The 8 best ways to watch all 2022 Formula 1 races for free
1. Free TV broadcasts of some F1 Grand Prix races
This year, there have been announcements all over the world that there will be specific Grand Prix in Formula 1 that are televised for free. For example, people in the United States will be able to stream the races in the USA and Mexico (October 23 & October 30) via ABC. In The Netherlands, the NOS reached an agreement to broadcast the Zandvoort Grand Prix (September 4) on TV and in Germany, RTL has managed to get its hands on a number of races: Emilia-Romagna / Imola (April 24), Silverstone (July 3, 2022) and Brazil (November 13).
So it depends on your country, but possibly there are certain races that you can watch for free on your television. If not, or if the F1 GP you want to stream now is not among the free TV content, there are still multiple possibilities to watch it online.
2. Using a VPN to watch the 2022 F1 season via foreign streams
Worldwide, there are lots of people who use a VPN to watch Formula 1. This is also possible in 2022 if you don’t have access to the available streaming services. However, it is important to use a good VPN for this. In a nutshell, it’s very simple: a Virtual Private Network (VPN) is an anonymous internet connection that ensures your privacy. It allows you to set which location signal your device gives off. Do you set your VPN to a different country? Then the website you visit will think you are in that country and you can consequently access streams that you might not be able to watch from your actual location.
For example, you can choose ABC from the United States, C8 from France or RTL Zwee from Luxembourg, but also ServusTV and ORF from Austria. However, the most used option is Channel 4 from Great Britain, because here you can watch races with English commentary. In a few simple steps, a VPN for Formula 1 works as follows:
- Go to NordVPN or go to Surfshark (or another provider) and get a good VPN from just €2 per month
- Set your location to the United Kingdom via the app
- Go directly to Channel 4 and start watching! 🏎
3. Direct discounts at streaming services such as F1 TV
The streaming service that purchased the broadcasting rights for Formula 1 differs per country. However, often there is an available deal that makes it possible to buy a subscription at lower costs for a longer period of time. For example, an F1 TV ‘Pro’ subscription costs €7.99 per month, which comes down to a price of €95.88 per year. However, if you choose the annual membership, you get a discount of over €30 and pay only €64.99. You can perceive this 32% discount as a possibility to watch almost 4 months of the year for free. Besides that, you also have the choice of the cheaper “Access” membership for 2.99 euros per month or 26.99 euros per year, but in this case it is not possible to watch the races live.
4. Sharing your streaming service account with friends and family (which is often allowed)
Nobody has a subscription to all the different streaming services that exist. Then you would be broke very quickly. Fortunately, there are many video on demand platforms that allow sharing a membership with friends, family or acquaintances. If you can find a friend of family member that already has an account on a streaming service to watch F1, it will be cheaper (or possibly even free) for you to join the account. However, for this to work, it is important to check out how many simultaneous streams are possible. Otherwise, you cannot both watch the same GP at the same time from different locations.
5. Going to the pub to watch Formula 1 in convivial company
The COVID-19 pandemic has kept pubs closed for long enough, so make sure you do your bit by getting together with some friends to have a good time. The pub is an excellent way to watch F1 for free. The only costs you make are in the money you pay for the beers and snacks. But those are also worth it. So get out and go to the nearest pub to enjoy the race in the bar. That’s a lot more fun than sitting at home on the couch. Besides that, you also sponsor local businesses.
6. Illegal livestreams, but of course we advise against this
We can pretend it is not happening, but that is also no way to deal with illegal livestreams. There are still many people around the world watching non-legal broadcasts of Formula 1 races. They do so for example through websites like He’s Goal, F1 Streams, CricHD or TotalSportek. Of course, we strongly advise against this for several reasons.
Not only is this illegal, but you also deprive the racing sport and the team you’re a fan of a part of the income they desperately need. Furthermore, these illegal websites are often full of viruses, which can endanger the security of your computer, tablet or phone.
Please note that using a VPN to stream sports, movies and series is not illegal in the United States, but gaining access to different libraries of a streaming service may violate the terms of use. If you stream content using a VPN, you do so at your own risk. Banli Media B.V. and the Virtual Private Networks providers do not encourage the use of a VPN in a way that may violate the ‘terms and conditions’ of streaming services. Always read the terms of use yourself.
