2025 Chinese Grand Prix start time: how to watch, live stream and F1 schedule for sprint weekend

It’s another weekend of early mornings for British F1 fans, thanks to the eight hour time difference between the UK and Shanghai, host to the 2025 Chinese Grand Prix. The main event starts at 7am on Sunday, but you’ll need to be awake at 3am on Saturday to watch or stream the first race of the weekend — the sprint.

Round 2 of the 2025 F1 calendar is a sprint weekend, which means that the competitive action begins on Friday with sprint qualifying at 7.30am GMT. Saturday then brings the sprint race, followed by qualifying for the Grand Prix at 7am. As ever, every session will be live on Sky Sports F1, which is also available through Now TV. Channel 4 will have three highlights shows, wrapping up all of the competitive action.

After the wet weather of Australia, the forecast in Shanghai is dry, which should give us a better opportunity to see the competitive order. Don’t expect a dull race though: the signs are that the frontrunners remain closely matched, so a thrilling fight for victory could be on the cards.

Away from the F1 paddock, this weekend sees the first round of the all-female F1 Academy series, as well as support from GT cars and the Porsche Carrera Cup.

It’s a packed schedule — here’s how to catch every minute of it.

2025 Chinese Grand Prix and sprint
F1 start times, streaming and TV schedule

All times in GMT for UK TV viewers

Friday 21 March

Saturday 22 March

Sunday 23 March

How to watch F1
Streaming and TV broadcast details

China hosts the first sprint race of the 2025 calendar, which changes the race weekend format in the same way it did last year. This means that drivers will have just a single qualifying session on Friday morning before being plunged straight into qualifyng for the sprint race that afternoon. Saturday will bring the sprint race in the morning before returning to the familiar schedule of grand prix qualifying on Saturday afternoon and the main 56-lap race on Sunday.

Live TV

All on-track sessions will be broadcast live on Sky Sports F1 starting at 3am ahead of Free Practice 1 on Friday. As in previous seasons, subscribers can download the Sky Sports App and simultaneously stream onboard footage from any driver of their choice. There’s also the option of a ‘Battle Channel’, showing the most exciting fights for position, as well as various race control streams, including multi-screen views and timing.

Live stream

Sky Sports F1 subscribers in the UK can watch all the running live on the Sky Go app. Now TV subscribers can also see live coverage of every session via Sky Sports F1, as well as the choice of 20 onboard views. Live timings are available through the F1 app.

Highlights

Channel 4 will show highlights of the weekend, across all three days, with action from Friday’s sprint qualifying session, followed by a Saturday afternoon programme featuring both the sprint race and qualifying. Highlights of Sunday’s Grand Prix will be broadcast at 1pm.

2025 Chinese Grand Prix weekend schedule
F1 Academy, Porsche Carrera Cup Asia and SRO GT Cup

All times in GMT

Friday 21 March

Saturday 22 March

Sunday 23 March