I'm watching the Australian GP for free this weekend — here's how to live stream F1 for free
TL;DR: You can sign up for a 7-day free trial of Apple TV+ through Prime Video Channels. This lets you watch select F1 races live with the Prime Video app.
I consume sport like water. If there's something big taking place, you best believe I'm watching. It doesn't matter if it's in the early hours of the morning or late night on a Saturday — I'm clearing my schedule to follow along.
The problem with this habit is that it's increasingly expensive to watch everything I want to watch. I've come to terms with this sad reality, but that doesn't mean I'm not constantly on the lookout for ways to watch for free. And no, I'm not talking about anything dodgy. I don't want to sit through a constantly buffering stream that floods my screen with extremely dodgy ads. I want a legit stream that doesn't cost anything.
So imagine my glee when I stumbled upon a way to watch select F1 races for free. I've followed F1 for as long as I can remember, and I don't recall a season starting with as much uncertainty. Due to a major set of regulation changes, it truly feels like anyone's title to win. I've been stung before by F1. I've been ready to experience an evenly-matched grid with unpredictable racing, only to be left with the same handful of drivers winning every week. But I refuse to lose faith. This is the year when it all changes.
And everything begins at the Australian GP. Ferrari and Mercedes have shown good pace in testing, but you never really know how things will pan out until the lights turn green.
If you want to watch F1 2026 for free from anywhere in the world, we've got all the information you need.
When is the Australian GP?
The Australian GP is the first race of the 2026 F1 season. Here's the full schedule from the Albert Park circuit in Melbourne:
Practice 1 — 8:30-9:30 p.m. ET on March 5
Practice 2 — 12-1 a.m. ET on March 6
Practice 3 — 8:30-9:30 p.m. ET on March 6
Qualifying — 12-1 a.m. ET on March 7
Race — 11 p.m. ET on March 7
The great news for fans is that it's never been easier to follow all the action without spending anything.
How to watch the Australian GP for free
I am, like a lot of people, a paid-up member of Amazon Prime. That subscription comes with a lot of benefits, including fast shipping, exclusive Prime Day deals, and access to Prime Video. Honestly, I don't watch a lot of Prime Video. I'm really in it for the fast delivery. We buy a lot of "essential" stuff and if it isn't going to come the next day, I don't want to know.
But now that the new F1 season is starting, I'm suddenly a lot more interested in Prime Video. That's because you can now sign up for a 7-day free trial of Apple TV+ through Prime Video Channels. F1 is now exclusive to Apple TV in the U.S., so by gaining access to this free trial, you can watch select races for free this season. The subscription typically costs £9.99 per month after the trial ends, but you can cancel at any time. So there's no obligation to pay anything.
I pay for Amazon Prime, so you could make the argument that this isn't really a free hack. But I was always going to subscribe to this service. And anyway, you can make use of Amazon Prime's 30-day free trial period (if you're new to the service) to gain access to Apple TV without spending anything at all. This is sneaky, but I suspect millions of fans will be using this exact method this season.
It truly has never been easier to watch F1 for free. You can follow in my footsteps and use Prime Video, or you can go directly through Apple TV. Either way, you don't need to pay to watch Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, and Charles Leclerc battle it out in 2026.
Topics Streaming Formula 1 How to Watch
Joseph Green is the Global Shopping Editor for Mashable. He covers VPNs, headphones, fitness gear, dating sites, streaming, and shopping events like Black Friday and Prime Day.
Joseph is also Executive Editor of Mashable's sister site, AskMen.
