Skip to main content

The Manual may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site.

F1 Bahrain GP Live Stream: Watch Formula 1 for FREE today

Formula 1 driver exiting turn.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The 74rd Formula 1 World Championship starts in under an hour, with the Bahrain Grand Prix. This is the first of 22 Grands Prix for the 2023 F1 season — only the second season to feature this many races — so if you don’t want to miss any of the action, now’s the time to sign up for a TV streaming package that includes ESPN. That’ll let you watch the F1 Bahrain Grand Prix live stream and every other Grand Prix online. With the racers getting ready to hit the track, though, you have little time left to sign up so you don’t miss any of the action.

Watch the free Bahrain GP live stream

The Bahrain Grand Prix is being aired for free in Austria and Luxembourg. This is great news for those in the countries, but devastating for residents traveling abroad who want to watch the action unfold live in their local language — especially when it’s free-to-watch at home. It’s only fitting that an Austrian currently in the United States would want to watch the race in Austrian and not English, right? This is completely safe and legal to do with a VPN like NordVPN. Just install it, choose to the location you wish to connect to, then fire up broadcast. The free streams are ORF in Austria or RTL Zwee in Luxembourg.

Unfortunately, there isn’t a free Bahrain GP live stream for residents of other countries. Elsewhere, folks will need to tune in through a local broadcast partner. The race is available on ESPN in the United States, and the best way to tune in is through fuboTV, which offers a one-week free trial to new customers In the United Kingdom, it’s available on Sky Sports F1, and over in Canada it’s being broadcast in English through TNS and in French through RDS. There are some other options available as well — below we’ll talk you through the different ways you can tune in locally in the United States in more detail.

Watch the Bahrain Grand Prix on FuboTV

FuboTV is not as much of a household name for Hulu, but might be shaping up to be the best streaming service for sports fans (especially if Fubo’s plan to serve as a sports betting platform pans out) and those who want to watch the Bahrain Grand Prix online — even more so because it offers a one-week free trial to new customers. Its channel lineup is enticing, too: The $65 per month Starter package features more than 115 channels for news, entertainment, and sports, including every Formula 1 live stream airing on ESPN2, its exclusive home in the United States.

Recommended Videos

As with Hulu, FuboTV offers premium channels as add-ons, such as Showtime, Starz, and Epix. Note, however, that HBO is unavailable on Fubo as of now. This may change in the future as it has with other streaming services. If you can live without HBO, though, and you don’t wish to take advantage of the Hulu bundle with Disney+ and ESPN+ (or you’re willing to pay for those separately), then FuboTV is an excellent streaming package if you want to watch the Bahrain Grand Prix and enjoy a wider TV channel lineup than Hulu + Live TV offers.

Watch the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sling TV

Hulu with Live TV might be the biggest streaming package on our list, but if you don’t want that and are more interested in a more value-conscious streaming package (and one that will let you watch the Bahrain GP live stream online), Sling TV is another top pick. Sling offers two plans: Sling Orange includes three ESPN channels among its 32 TV channels, while Sling Blue includes other sports channels but not ESPN among its 42-channel lineup. Each plan costs $35 per month.

Note that the plans share many channels, so there is some overlap, but only Orange offers ESPN. Those looking to stream F1 races online should go with the Sling Orange plan at the very least, as Blue does not feature any ESPN channels. However, you can combine the two into the Sling Orange & Blue for $50, which is the best value option. This gives you all the channels of both the Orange and Blue channels — 50 channels in total — and is a great option for sports lovers.

The Orange plan’s three ESPN channels let you watch F1 live streams to your heart’s content, while the Blue plan’s sports channels include Fox Sports, NBC, and the NFL Network for more live action. Hungry for even more? You can always sign up for ESPN+ separately ($7 per month or $70 per year) to complete your sports streaming loadout, and you’ll still be paying less than you would for the other streaming packages on our list.

Watch the Bahrain Grand Prix on Hulu with Live TV

Hulu with Live TV is our favorite streaming bundle, so it’s worth taking a closer look at. At its core, it’s a cable TV replacement that’s tailor-made for cord-cutters — those who opt to totally replace their cable or satellite television service in favor of online streaming apps. However, Hulu with Live TV now includes the Disney Bundle (formerly, this was an optional premium add-on to the Hulu with Live TV plan), making this perhaps the most comprehensive streaming package out there, as well as the best bang for your buck.

The core Hulu with Live TV plan includes more than 75 television channels (the specific number will vary depending on your local market) including ESPN, so it’s good to go if you want to watch the Bahrain GP today. It’s great for other sports, too, as it also includes channels like NBC, Fox, CBS, and more — NBA, NFL, PGA, NCAA, NHL, it’s all there. And with ESPN+, you can even stream UFC fights and pay-per-views, along with all the other sports content that ESPN+ offers.

As you’d expect from the name, Hulu with Live TV includes ad-supported Hulu, so you can enjoy thousands of shows, movies, and Hulu originals. On top of all that, Disney+ has everything a fan of Disney, Marvel, and Star Wars could want. For $70 per month (or $76 per month if you want to upgrade to ad-free Hulu), Hulu with Live TV puts a mountain of live and on-demand entertainment at your fingertips, and it’s the one of the best way to watch the Bahrain Grand Prix live stream online.

Watch the Bahrain Grand Prix on YouTube TV

Both Hulu with Live TV and Sling TV offer up to three simultaneous streams and 50 hours of cloud DVR recording, but if you want something more well-suited to an environment where a number of people are regularly streaming at once, YouTube TV is one to consider. With more than 85 channels to choose from, YouTube TV offers the largest TV selection of these three streaming packages, including four ESPN channels so you can watch the Bahrain GP live stream and other F1 races live.

Of course, you don’t get Hulu, Disney+, and ESPN+ with YouTube TV, but you can always sign up for those (or the complete Disney Bundle) separately if you want. The trade-off is that you get a couple of other advantages over Hulu with Live TV. For starters, you can watch it on up to 10 devices at once, which makes it a great choice for households with many frequent streamers. You also get unlimited cloud DVR recording so you can download your favorite content and watch it offline when you want.

YouTube TV costs $65 per month, so it falls in-between Hulu with Live TV and Sling TV on the price spectrum. With so many channels to choose from including pretty much the full array of sports channels, YouTube TV is a great value if you don’t care about the Disney Bundle and want more than what Sling TV gets you. And with four ESPN channels in the mix, it’s a great way to watch the Bahrain GP live stream as the 74th Formula 1 World Championship begins.

Noah McGraw
Noah is a Portland-based writer and editor. When he's not writing about lifestyle and tech products, he's riding (or fixing)…
F1 World Championships are on the line at the Las Vegas Grand Prix
The Las Vegas race could tie a ribbon on Verstappen's fourth Championship
Aerial shot of the 2023 F1 Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix.

F1 Red Bull driver Max Verstappen could wrap up the 2024 FIA Formula 1 World Drivers' World Championship at the November 21 to 23 Las Vegas Grand Prix, but McLaren's Lando Norris still has a slim chance at winning the title. McLaren and Ferrari are leading Red Bull in the Constructors' competition.

As the 2024 Formula 1 schedule draws to a close, the Drivers' World Championship and the Constructors' World Championship are still undecided. This late-season contention contrasts with the beginning of the calendar when, after seven wins in ten races, it seemed that Red Bull driver Max Verstappen and his team would dominate, as they did in 2023.
The F1 World Drivers' Championship
Verstappen's Championship points margin over other drivers from the beginning of the season, his recent podium finishes and the Sao Paulo Grand Prix victory don't entirely rule out anyone else winning the Drivers' Championship.

Read more
F1 book, Will Buxton’s Grand Prix: An Illustrated History of Formula 1
Newbies to F1 and lifelong fans will learn and enjoy this book
Will Buxton's An Illustrated History of Formula 1 Grand Prix book cover.

Are you following F1? Whether you're a lifelong fan or new to Grand Prix racing, Will Buxton's Grand Prix: An Illustrated History of Formula 1, published by Ten Speed Press, should be on your bookshelf or shopping list. There are many informative books about F1 racing, but Buxton's superlative volume is an F1 primer, a reference, and a collection of driver profiles at the top of their sport.
Why Grand Prix is important
Formula 1 is an elite, exciting motorsport with ten teams and 20 drivers who race in major cities worldwide. The 2024 season has 24 races, the most in F1's 75-year history, but only three remain. The driver and team Championships competitions remain undecided as the season nears its end.

The rapidly growing interest in F1 racing is due in no small part to the Netflix series Formula 1: Drive to Survive. Will Buxton, the series' primary commentator, is also part of the broadcast team for F1 TV, the official Formula 1 streaming service.

Read more
F1 Sao Paulo Grand Prix wrapup: heavy rain, red flags, and Verstappen’s master class
Amid heavy rain, red flags, and crashes, Verstappen showed why he's a world champion
Red Bull F1 driver holds up the winner's trophy after the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

Red Bull F1 driver Max Verstappen described Sunday's Sao Paulo Grand Prix as "absolutely crazy," and he was absolutely correct. Heavy rain plagued the Brazilian race weekend, with the postponed Qualifying event run on Sunday morning four hours before the Grand Prix start time.

After the three-stage qualifying run, Verstappen was relegated to start the Grand Prix in the 17th position. However, his driving skills and consistent performance prevailed, and Verstappen was the first driver to get the checkered flag. Verstappen's virtuoso performance likely ensured he would win the F1 World Drivers' Championship this season. If he does win, it will be his third consecutive Championship and his fourth overall.

Read more