F1 TV

Review by eFreeware

F1 TV is the official streaming app of Formula 1, and its most distinctive trait is the way it splits the race weekend into layers you can follow separately. Rather than one broadcast feed, it offers live timing, telemetry, onboard cameras and team radio, with the app's three subscription levels deciding how much of that you get. The developer's pitch is that you can watch every session live or on demand, from wherever you are.

That makes it a natural fit for people who already follow the sport closely and want more than the main world feed gives them. If you track lap times, tyre choices and strategy as a race unfolds, the data side is likely to matter as much as the video. For a casual viewer who tunes in a few times a season, the free download is a starting point, but the deeper layers sit behind a subscription.

What the app actually covers

The core proposition is comprehensive race weekend coverage. Every Formula 1 session is available to stream live and on demand, which covers practice, qualifying and the race itself rather than just the main event. The app is free to download, with ads and in-app purchases, and it launched on Android back in August 2018.

The subscription structure is where the app's real shape emerges. F1 TV Access, F1 TV Pro and F1 TV Premium each open up a different depth of coverage, from timing data at one end to a multi-feed race view at the other. The naming suggests a ladder, and in practice each tier adds a distinct set of tools rather than simply more hours of video.

The developer describes the three levels through the lens of a role: the strategist, the team principal and the race director. That framing is a useful way to think about which tier matches how you watch. If you mostly want numbers and replays, the entry level covers it; if you want the full live feed with radio and onboard cameras, you are looking at the middle tier.

Timing, telemetry and the data layer

F1 TV Access is built around race data rather than live video. It provides live timings, telemetry, tyre usage and driver maps, so you can watch how a stint unfolds sector by sector and see which compounds each car is running. For anyone who enjoys the strategic side of the sport, that combination is the heart of the app.

Alongside the live data, Access includes delayed race replays and recaps of the best team radio moments. There are also exclusive shows, documentaries and race archives, which gives the tier a life outside race weekends. The replays arrive after the fact rather than live, so the timing screens are what carry you through a session in real time.

Live timing appears across all three tiers, described as essential live timing in each case. That means the data layer is the common thread running through the app, and the higher tiers add video and immersion on top of it rather than replacing it.

The live stream, onboards and radio

F1 TV Pro is the tier aimed at people who want to watch the racing itself. It streams every Formula 1 session live and on demand, and adds live onboard cameras and live team radio, so you can follow a specific driver's view or listen in on pit wall conversations as they happen. The developer presents this as the team principal's perspective, and the combination of onboard feeds and radio fits that description.

Exclusive race weekend shows and content round out the tier, giving it a schedule that extends past the sessions themselves.

The appeal here is depth rather than convenience. You are choosing which car to watch and which radio channel to listen to, which rewards attention but asks for it in return. Onboard cameras in particular are a different way of experiencing a race than a directed broadcast, and they suit viewers who already know the running order and want to see it from inside a cockpit.

Multi View, 4K and the Premium tier

F1 TV Premium is the newest and most ambitious level, and it is where the app's Multi View feature lives. Multi View lets you build a custom multi-feed live race view for every session, so you can assemble the combination of feeds you want on screen at once. The developer calls this the race director's view, and the comparison is fair: you are the one deciding what makes the cut.

Premium also brings 4K UHD and HDR viewing on a large screen, along with the ability to stream on up to six devices simultaneously. Those two features point in the same direction, toward a living-room setup where several people watch different feeds at the same time. The official live stream and essential live timing are included as well, so the tier builds on what the lower levels offer.

This is the part of the app that carries the most caveats. Android users and anyone on a browser other than Chrome cannot get the Premium tier yet, and paying for it on Android does not unlock it there. Multi View and 4K are therefore features you buy on one device and use on another, which is an unusual arrangement and one worth understanding before you commit.

What you need before subscribing

The practical picture is that F1 TV is free to download, and the app carries ads. Each tier maps to a different level of access, so the question is not whether to install it but which level of coverage matches how you follow the sport. The developer's own tier descriptions are the clearest guide to that decision.

The Premium caveat is the single most important thing to check before paying. Because those features are unavailable on Android and on browsers other than Chrome, an Android user who upgrades on their phone cannot use Multi View or 4K there. If a large-screen 4K setup is what you are after, the device you watch on matters as much as the subscription you buy.

There is also a structural point about the app's focus. It is built around Formula 1 and its feeder series, with timing data, onboard cameras and radio as the main tools. That narrowness is the point: the app is a deep instrument for following one championship rather than a general sports hub. The 4.3 average from more than 226,000 ratings suggests a large audience has found it workable, and the app has passed ten million installs since its 2018 release.

Who the three tiers are built for

The clearest way to judge F1 TV is by matching a tier to a viewing habit. Someone who follows strategy through timing screens, tyre data and driver maps, and catches up on replays afterward, will find Access covers the essentials. The delayed replays and radio recaps mean the tier still has value between race weekends, and the archives and documentaries give it a longer shelf life.

A viewer who wants to watch the sessions as they happen, with onboard cameras and team radio alongside the main feed, is the natural audience for Pro. This is the tier that most closely matches what people mean when they say they want to watch F1 online.

Premium is for the viewer who wants to control the race rather than follow it, building a multi-feed layout and watching in 4K on a large screen with several devices running at once. That is a specific setup, and it depends on hardware the Android app itself cannot deliver those features on. Anyone drawn to Multi View should treat the screen they plan to watch on as part of the decision.

A deep companion for committed F1 followers

F1 TV does one thing at scale: it turns a race weekend into a set of feeds and data streams you can arrange around your own interests. The combination of live timing, telemetry, onboard cameras, team radio and multi-feed viewing covers the sport from several angles at once, and the three subscription tiers let you choose how deep to go. The developer's framing of strategist, team principal and race director is a fair summary of what each level feels like.

My recommendation is to start by deciding how you watch. If you want data and replays, Access is the sensible entry point. If you want live sessions with onboard cameras and radio, Pro is where the app becomes a full viewing companion, with the junior categories as a genuine bonus.

It suits committed followers of Formula 1 and its feeder series who want more control and more information than a standard broadcast provides. The free download makes it easy to look at the tier structure before committing, and the ads and in-app purchases are part of the deal from the outset. For that audience, the depth on offer is hard to match elsewhere.

What's new

Our latest version of the app features all-new F1 TV Premium, the ultimate F1 immersive race experience. This new subscription level gets you closer to the race than ever before with 4K UHD/HDR on your big screen, and streaming on up to 6 devices at once.