Shanghai International Circuit features one of the longest straights on the F1 calendar, and Ferrari intends to wring its neck for all it's worth. The Scuderia will run its innovative rotating rear wing – nicknamed the 'flip-flop' and 'Macarena' – at the Chinese Grand Prix, a major signal of intent considering it's a Sprint weekend, with practice limited to a single session.
Chinese Grand Prix 2026 free stream
Chinese Grand Prix 2026 Schedule
(All times GMT)
Friday, 13th March
3.30am – Practice 1
7.30am – Sprint Qualifying
Saturday, 14th March
3am – Sprint
7am – Qualifying
Sunday, 15th March
7am – Chinese Grand Prix
Chinese Grand Prix 2026 Preview
Mercedes dominated the F1 season opener, with George Russell leading a Silver Arrows one-two in Melbourne. However, the gap to Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton was far closer than many had anticipated. Despite the latest in a long line of calamitous strategic errors, they were right on Kimi Antonelli's tail. Off the line, meanwhile, the Ferraris were streets ahead of everybody.
They've not had much time to finesse their new rear wing, but if it works as intended, even Mercedes may struggle to keep up with them. The component is designed to rotate 180 degrees in order to allow more air to pass through, and thereby reduce drag on the straights.
In a stinker of a weekend for McLaren and Red Bull, nobody had a worse time of things than Oscar Piastri, who crashed into a wall en route to the grid at his home event. After a similarly painful experience 12 months ago, the Australian bounced back by taking victory at the Chinese GP – and winning three of the subsequent four races.
We'll show how to watch Chinese Grand Prix live streams from anywhere in the world.
Watch Chinese Grand Prix 2026 live from anywhere
Most F1 live streams are location-sensitive, which means you won't be able to access your preferred coverage when travelling abroad. A VPN (Virtual Private Network) is a straightforward but powerful app that lets you alter your virtual location and thus unblock any Chinese GP stream – including the free coverage in Austria, Luxembourg and Belgium.
NordVPN is our pick of the best VPN services. It's affordable, fast, stable and easy to use. Try it risk-free for 30 days and see for yourself.
How to use a VPN for any Chinese GP live stream
1. Sign up to the VPN of your choice. NordVPN is the one we recommend.
2. Open the VPN app and choose the location of the service you wish to access. For the F1, you may wish to choose Austria for ORF On.
3. Head over to ORF On on your browser or device and enjoy the free Chinese Grand Prix live stream.
How to watch Chinese Grand Prix 2026 in 4K Ultra HD in the UK
In the UK, you can watch the Chinese Grand Prix, along with every F1 race, in 4K via Sky Q, Sky Glass and Sky Stream puck. You'll need to subscribe to an Ultra HD package and have a 4K TV.
Head over to the Sky Sports F1 Ultra HD channel to watch every race, qualifying and practice in 4K and HDR.
Need Sky? Browse today's best Sky TV deals.
F1 season pass
F1 TV Pro includes live HD coverage of every F1 practice, qualifier and race. No ad breaks.
F1 TV Pro is available in over 188 countries – but not the UK (you can use the basic 'Access' version for live timings but you can't watch any races live). F1 TV Premium is available in the US.
F1 TV Pro is available via the F1 TV website, iOS/Android apps, Roku TV, Apple TV, Android TV, Google TV and other mobile devices.
Latest F1 TV Pro prices:
- F1 TV Pro in India – $3.99/month (cheapest)
- F1 TV Pro in South Africa – $4.99/month
- F1 TV Pro in Brazil – $5.99/month
- F1 TV Pro in Netherlands – €11.90/month
- F1 TV Pro in USA – $10.99/month
- F1 TV Pro in Mexico – $129/month
Watch Chinese Grand Prix 2026 live streams in the USA
In the USA, Apple TV is showing the Chinese Grand Prix – and Practice sessions are free-to-air all season.
A subscription costs $12.99 per month after a 7-day FREE trial, though better deals are available to Apple customers.
Buying an eligible Apple devices, including select iPhone, iPad, Apple TV and Mac models, gets you free Apple TV access for three months.
Apple One, which bundles Apple TV with Apple Music, Apple Arcade and 50GB of iCloud Storage, starts at $19.95 per month after a 1-month free trial.
Alternatively, for a limited time the Apple Music Student Subscription includes Apple TV, and costs $6 per month.
Watch Chinese Grand Prix 2026 live streams in Australia
Fox Sports has the rights to show every live F1 race in Australia. That means Foxtel and Kayo Sports subscribers get a front-row seat to the Chinese GP too.
Kayo offers new customers a FREE 7-day trial to test the waters, after which it starts at AU$29.99 a month for the base Standard tier. For up to 4K video quality and simultaneous streaming on up to two devices, you'll need the Kayo Premium plan for AU$45.99 a month.
Subscribers can also stream the action via Foxtel Now by adding the Sports package ($30 a month).
10Play shows free highlights of every 2026 F1 race.
Chinese Grand Prix 2026: Start Times Around The World
Session | Local (CST) | ET | PT | GMT | AEDT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Practice 1 | Fri: 11.30am | Thu: 10.30pm | Thu: 7.30pm | Fri: 3.30am | Fri: 2.30pm |
Sprint Qualifying | Fri: 3.30pm | Fri: 2.30am | Thu: 11.30pm | Fri: 7.30am | Fri: 6.30pm |
Sprint | Sat: 11am | Fri: 10pm | Fri: 7pm | Sat: 3am | Sat: 2pm |
Qualifying | Sat: 3pm | Sat: 2am | Fri: 11pm | Sat: 7am | Sat: 6pm |
Grand Prix | Sun: 3pm | Sun: 2am | Sat: 11pm | Sun: 7am | Sun: 6pm |
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VPN services are evaluated and tested by us in view of legal recreational use. For example: a) Access to services from other countries, (subject to the terms and conditions of that service). b) Safeguarding your online security and making your online privacy more robust when abroad. Future plc does not support nor condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. We do not endorse nor approve of consuming pirated content that is paid-for.
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