British viewers lose free-to-air coverage from 2012

Only half of next season’s formula one races will be shown on free-to-air television in Britain.

It emerged on Friday morning that subscription channel Sky Sports has won joint rights with the BBC to televise grands prix between 2012 and 2018.

All sessions will be shown live on Sky, while the BBC will only have live qualifying and race coverage of ten "key races" including Silverstone, Monaco and the season finale.

The BBC’s sports director Barbara Slater billed the news as good for British fans, despite their unprecedented loss of free-to-air coverage.

"With this new deal not only have we delivered significant savings but we have also ensured that through our live and extended highlights coverage all the action continues to be available to licence fee payers," she said.