F1 Is Doing a Kid-Hosted Broadcast of the Hungarian GP
By kids, for the kids.
Formula 1 will throw racing audiences a curveball this weekend with a new kid-oriented broadcast of the Hungarian Grand Prix. The broadcast will be hosted at least in part by children, backed by pro commentators and retired racing drivers from the regular roster at Sky Sports.
Said to be the first of its kind, F1 Juniors will be broadcast by the Sky Group, whose Sky Sports commentators formerly provided the English-language commentary for F1TV. The kid-oriented broadcast will be shown in two languages, English and German, with a specialized production package to make the sport more approachable to children. They include 3D graphics and animations, cartoon avatars for each driver on the grid, simple technical overviews, and family-friendly radio transmissions. (So, presumably no Guenther Steiner.)
The English broadcast will be hosted by a trio of children, whose first names were the only identifiers published. They will be Braydon, Scarlett, and Zac (a competitive kart racer), and be backed up by retired racers and Sky's regular commentary team. The drivers will include 2016 F1 champion Nico Rosberg and IndyCar race winner Danica Patrick. Sky Sports says the young hosts will get to try their hand at the full range of the weekend's broadcast responsibilities, from interviewing drivers to commentating on the race and offering their own analysis.
F1 did not specify whether the broadcast will be made accessible to U.S. viewers through F1TV, and Sky Sports itself geo-blocks content outside Britain and Ireland. You could use a VPN, but it'd be pricey to pay for one of those and an online Sky subscription to just watch Max Verstappen walk away with another win. But maybe the kids' enthusiasm will make up for F1's dull racing and put on a show worth sitting through.
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