Last weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos was far from being the first F1 event to have its schedule changed significantly after it had already begun.
After the planned grand prix qualifying session on Saturday afternoon was delayed and delayed and delayed due to heavy wet conditions until eventually being postponed by race control, the session was moved to Sunday morning instead.It was the latest of a large handful of race weekends over the years that had seen qualifying moved to Sunday, including the 2009 Japanese Grand Prix, the 2015 United States Grand Prix and the 2019 Japanese Grand Prix. But what made last week’s race unique was that, for the first time in modern history, the start time of the grand prix itself was brought forward to start 90 minutes earlier than originally planned. This happened with less than 24 hours before the race had originally been due to begin.
Formula 1 has historically been extremely reluctant to be flexible with race start times. The 2014 Japanese Grand Prix began when originally planned at 3pm local time, despite some drivers including Felipe Massa expressing their view the start time should have been moved earlier to help avoid likely poor weather. The infamous 2021 Belgian Grand Prix was abandoned after only Safety Car laps as conditions failed to improve during the delay until race control effectively ran out of time to wait any longer.
Although it may make sense to move start times earlier to help improve the prospects of getting a full grand prix in the books, logistically it’s a lot easier said than done. Not only are you asking thousands of ticket holders to arrive to the circuit sooner than they otherwise would have, but many naturally have travel plans based around the original start time that might be impossible to adjust at the last minute.
There’s also the broadcasters, who have set their TV schedules around the original planned start time months in advance. Changing a race start time so soon before it was supposed to take place is not an insignificant disruption as they have to adjust their schedules to fit the race in.
That can also makes life difficult for the television audience, too. Even if Sky or F1 TV can easily adjust without problems, fans may not have the ability to just move their weekend plans to accomodate an earlier start time. Especially if they have children or live in a time zone where the start time falls at an unfriendly hour.
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You say
So, after the first last-minute race start time adjustment in modern history, RaceFans wants to know whether last weekend’s change of plans affected your ability to watch what turned out to be one of the more dramatic and eventful grands prix of the season. Let us know in this week’s poll and then let us know if you would be open to F1 being more flexible with start times of grands prix to avoid severe wet weather in the future.
How did the change of start time for the Brazilian Grand Prix impact your ability to watch?
- No opinion (0%)
- It was very convenient for me (15%)
- It was slightly more convenient for me (14%)
- It made no difference for me (49%)
- It was slightly inconvenient for me (11%)
- It was very inconvenient for me (11%)
Total Voters: 136
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Erzen (@xenn1)
10th November 2024, 18:16
I was one of the lucky ones for whom the new start time was more convenient (i would’ve missed the 2nd half of the race with the original schedule due to work commitments) but i do sympathise with people for whom it led to missing some of the action.
However if the choice is having a full distance race run safely or running a shortened race with several interruptions due to the weather it’s a no brainer imo. Even if some fans unfortunately will miss out on some of the action.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
11th November 2024, 0:21
I don’t mind the interruptions, but I mind when a race gets completely cancelled or shortened, like spa 2021 or suzuka 2022, that doesn’t mean I’d rather have a race in the dry ofc.
At least here they managed to run the full distance, like they also did 8 years back at the same venue, with slightly worse conditions and a bit more interruptions via SC\red flags.
hje
10th November 2024, 18:30
No, it didn’t. I weren’t planning to watch it live, because of my local football club’s game scheduled exactly at the time of the original race start. Shifting it one hour earlier just meant I was confident the race was ended, and I was quite safe to launch F1TV and avoiding any spoilers by Chromecast going immediately Live, no matter how much shift do I set earlier.
So, it actually did, and it helped me a bit?
charliex (@photogcw)
10th November 2024, 18:54
Unless you have F1TV, you’re at the mercy of ESPN in the USA. ESPN made changes to their broadcasts with little or no notice at all. The race was planned to be aired it on its ESPN-2 channel. With the time change, the network moved it to its secondary ESPN-U channel. ESPN-2 was showing the New York Marathon live and that coverage stretched into the race’s broadcast time. It ended about fifteen minutes past the hour then it joined the Sky world feed just as the race was red-flagged. Most cable broadcasters carry ESPN-2 as part of their basic package but other ESPN channels are reserved to more expensive pricing tier. Even ESPN’s heavy pre-race promotions made no mention of the changes. I only found the changes when I went to their website.
kcrossle (@kcrossle)
11th November 2024, 1:03
I scrolled through my brother’s 900-some Comcast channels in search . I think it was originally scheduled for 12:30 (but rescheduled for 10:30?) and nothing live available.
Another reason to have F1TV – watched on iPad. His Win7 machine doesn’t work for F1TV :-D
MacLeod (@macleod)
11th November 2024, 8:19
@kcrossle your brother shouldn’t use win 7 ON the internet as all secturity leaks as not plugged everyone can acces that computer without any problem and your brother wouldn’t notice it at all. He can use the computer as standalone offcourse as long there is no internet connection.
Deep Sky (@deepsky)
15th November 2024, 23:34
Good info. It’s tough to know when software companies are pushing to a new version that has benefit for the user or not.
Khürt Williams (@khurtwilliams)
15th November 2024, 11:30
It was because of F1 TV that I was able to cancel my cable package (and ESPN). I enjoy watching most races live with no commercial interruptions.
Yes (@come-on-kubica)
10th November 2024, 19:05
Earlier is always better nowadays.
Laurence Cartwright (@lecmeister)
10th November 2024, 19:23
Since I’m one of the Sky-less UK viewers who watches on Channel 4 hours later, it couldn’t have affected me.
Simon
10th November 2024, 20:51
The Sky EPG wasn’t updated at all. While Sunday Qualifying was happening live, the EPG showed as part-way through a Saturday Qualifying repeat)
I don’t have X/Twitter or Instagram, so the only mention of the changes was on their website:
https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/13242888/sao-paulo-gp-schedule-uk-time-when-to-watch-f1-sprint-weekend-at-interlagos-live-on-sky-sports-as-2024-season-continues
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
10th November 2024, 22:37
Sky EPG was really poor. I missed some of the qualifying on Sunday. And the Channel 4 coverage actually was very effected. They showed no qualifying highlights for the only time in the history of them broadcasting F1 since they took over from the BBC. Probably because of their rights on how long the program could be on Sunday. They just gave you a very brief update but didn’t show any running of qualifying.
frood19 (@frood19)
10th November 2024, 22:36
Channel 4 watcher here too. Would have been nice to see the full race. I used to stream races I thought might be good but can’t be bothered with the whack a mole ads (plus I have small children now, I never get the time).
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
11th November 2024, 15:24
Channel 4 viewer here as well. Did not effect me at all really. I did notice the qualifying report was very brief. But the race itself more than made up for it. To be entirely honest I don’t always have chance to watch the quali highlights anyway.
Jere (@jerejj)
10th November 2024, 19:34
It made no difference for me was an easy answer.
Even though I only found out on race day morning thanks to late qualifying cancellation, this unusual start time change still couldn’t impact me at all, given my plans for race days are always fully set well in advance.
Simply a case of turning TV on 1h30min earlier than originally intended, no biggie.
Simon
10th November 2024, 20:42
But you normally bleat unfavourably about changes to session/race start times, no?
Christopher Rehn (@chrischrill)
10th November 2024, 19:45
It was slightly less convenient, not necessarily because the race was moved, but because quali and race ended up so close to one another. Had the race remained in its original slot, I would have time to do all my Sunday chores like a grocery list, shopping, laundry, and all that boring stuff. With that said, I much prefer this over not getting a race because of rain. Good call to move it.
Johns
10th November 2024, 20:30
Yes. Could not watch until after 1 hour in due to network not interrupting normally scheduled program . Luckily Lance Stroll biffed it, so i didnt miss much.
Johns
10th November 2024, 20:37
Definition of “biffed”: That will buff right out.
isthatglock21
10th November 2024, 20:38
It was fine. Times have changed, especially with F1TVPro, apps, news/social media accounts, most people will have been informed. I can see why Bernie in the old days would’ve never done this, but even then people will have had a degree of awareness re F1 starting times seeing as they’re never fixed or allotted to handful of times like football. Speaking of timings…when will we talk about Las Vegas?? It literally works for no one including those on the west coast. Literally everyone east of that including most of USA it’s too late in the night, including key European market. Silly timing. How long are they gonna keep hyping up what is a flawed, dead event? You can tell it’s a F1/Liberty media event how all commentators advertise for them year-round on comms like we don’t notice. Including crofty last week in Brazil. All for a free hotel room or 2. Embarrassing.
George (@george)
10th November 2024, 21:49
It didn’t affect me on this occasion, but that’s more to do with the specific circumstances of this race meaning I was actually aware of it.
1. It’s the Brazilian Grand Prix so I was pretty hyped and keeping up with the news
2. The time zone meant I was awake, and the time change put the race into a more normal (euro-centric) period
3. After qualifying was called off and rescheduled I had to check in the following morning anyway
I voted that it was slightly inconvenient because I’d rather not encourage it happening more often. At most races I would look up the race start time and only expect it to be potentially delayed rather than brought forward.
Sham (@sham)
10th November 2024, 22:22
It was OK, but I was busy in the morning and missed qualifying – but that’s not what the poll is about. I was only just back in time for the race, and had to properly rush to make it – not ideal, but I still got everything done.
I’d rather they run the race early that get caught out by the weather, though.
Coventry Climax
10th November 2024, 23:00
No, it did not impact my ability one bit, and I seriously doubt a decision like that affects peoples abilities in general.
Did I almost miss the race, you mean? No, it was a weekend, I am an above average interested person and the announcement came timely.
Do you think it affected the viewing numbers then, that what you’re asking? But why ask us, here? That’s hardly a representative survey, I guess. Don’t the broadcasters check viewing numbers anymore? Weird, as the right to broadcast is quite expensive these days, and like any company, money is only spent when it there is return on investment.
Brett
10th November 2024, 23:36
It did, was traveling by train (with no signal) which was planned to arrive home before the race started.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
11th November 2024, 0:29
These times were a bit better for me because I was bored that day and I had to wait less until some action came up, however around 50% of the race, during the red flag, something came up that could only be done in that moment and as I was watching on some free stream and some buffering issues started around then, I decided it was a good moment to do what I had to do and then a few hours later I watched one of those sites that show the full replays, in this case for the latter half of the race, again anticipating the times means replays come up earlier, so slightly better.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
11th November 2024, 0:30
went on one of those sites*
Tristan (@skipgamer)
11th November 2024, 6:32
No difference here, managed to catch the second half in the morning which is as much as I can hope for with timezones. No way I was planning to watch it regardless.
Neil (@neilosjames)
11th November 2024, 6:54
I was very pleased it moved, as I don’t like watching F1 in the evening (UK viewer). It just feels wrong and messes with my brain/sleeping patterns a little. Given the length of time needed to run the whole race, I was extra happy it had been moved.
Mayrton
11th November 2024, 7:19
It was not so much the timing of the GP that made it difficult to watch, but the impartiality and rigging of FIA did. Luckily this site is the only one turning their heads away of all the misconduct that took place on Friday, Saturday and Sunday by Race Control. All other outlets I follow on F1 have taken effort to either joke about or debate it. Not on here. Another cup of bias anyone?
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
11th November 2024, 8:07
It’s easier in the grand scheme of things when this adjustment happens at a race like Brazil, where for the Europeans or Americans it actually fits well.
But imagine if they had to move the start of the race at a place like China, Japan, Malaysia, Australia. That’d hurt the ratings a lot more…
Jungle
11th November 2024, 9:34
Was actually a bonus for me. I got to watch Sunday qualifying while having my evening meal. The American races play out early Monday morning for me so I either record or stream on TV Monday night.
Dave
11th November 2024, 14:03
Yes, it absolutely did.
I avoided all social media and websites from Saturday afternoon through to Sunday afternoon so to avoid hearing the result of the Sprint Race. So I had no idea when I booked the race on NowTV and arrived home just before 5pm on race day that it has been red flagged on Lap 33. It took me a while to work out why but needless to say I enjoyed watching the rest of the race live. Pretty annoyed at spending £14.99 or whatever it is now just to see half a race.
Kerry Maxwell (@kerrymaxwell)
11th November 2024, 17:41
It was very inconvenient because I record the races, and the change in start meant the race did not get recorded. I had to wait for a rebroadcast, and avoid all sources of potential spoilers. I suppose this is more a function of how my cable company DVR works than the change in time, but it was still a major annoyance.
f1andrea
11th November 2024, 18:12
I based my life on F1 expecially in the race week end, so tipically I take quite a 2-3 hours margin after a race for doing something else, but move the race earliear is, in my opinion, is the right thing to do in scenario like this and if I’m at home I don’t have any problem, but I understand that also me would have been in big troubles if I had mandatory commitment (rare case anyway)
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
11th November 2024, 21:17
The convenience factor for the race was not affected. Bringing the race earlier made it a waste of time to broadcast*, but that’s the FIA’s convenience issue, not mine.
* – Parc fermé is required to start at least 5 hours before the race, thanks to Article 40.8 of the Sporting Regulations:
This means everyone should have been fuelled for the entire qualifying plus race at the point qualifying started, or else start from the pits. They’re also required to do no modifications to anything that isn’t a tyre or front wing angle (including from running off-track) or else start from the pits. However, as far as I could tell, everyone who reached Q2 refuelled and two of the drivers who didn’t went off at some point in Q1, which would have mildly damaged the floor of the cars.
Furthermore, Article 42.4 requires the provisional grid to be published at least four hours before the race:
The first attempt to do a formation lap was less than 4 hours after the provisional grid was published. Strictly speaking, that invalidates the entire race. Nice one, FIA.
grat
12th November 2024, 0:46
I watch via Youtube TV, and between ESPN and YTV, totally missed qualifying, and the first 28 laps of the race.
Fortunately there are alternate methods of watching, so I went to plan B.
TheNewNo2
13th November 2024, 19:11
The change to starting time screwed us – we spent Sunday morning waiting for qualifying to turn up on NowTV, as we assumed we’d missed it. We didn’t look at social or news media or anything because that would inevitably have told us the result, and so had no idea qualifying or the race were moved.