This weekend, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen will go to battle for one final time this season in the finale of the Formula One season in Abu Dhabi.
The Grand Prix will be shown on free-to-air television with Channel 4 agreeing a deal with Sky Sports to show the event live.
This won’t be the first time that Channel 4 and Sky Sports have worked together to bring live coverage of a live sporting event to the nation. The 2019 Cricket World Cup final was shown live on Channel 4, with the broadcaster also agreeing a deal with Amazon Prime earlier this year to show Emma Raducanu’s US Open final victory.
Stephen van Rooyen, CEO of UK & Europe Sky said, “Sunday’s Grand Prix is one of the biggest sporting events in the last decade and could be an historic moment for British sport. We’ve chosen to gift the race to the whole country at Christmas through our partnership with Channel 4, so everyone can be part of a huge national moment as Lewis Hamilton goes for a historic eighth World Championship title.
Lewis Hamilton, who drives for the Brackley based Mercedes team is level on points with Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen. The energy drink brand’s F1 headquarters are based in Milton Keynes.
While there is 25 miles between the two teams on the road, zero points separate the two title contenders in the Championship standings. Verstappen does hold a slender advantage over Verstappen as he has won more races this season.
If the two collide and are both eliminated from the race, like their clash at Monza earlier this season, Verstappen would win the title on count-back. He has won nine races this season compared to the eight of Hamilton.
A title victory for Hamilton would mean history for the Stevenage-born driver, with him eclipsing the haul of seven titles won by Michael Schumacher, with an eighth title of his own.
Verstappen would become the first Dutch World Champion should be claimed victory and would also create history with both single-seat World Champions being from the Netherlands after Nyck de Vries won the Formula E World Championship.
Not only is the Driver’s title up for grabs, the Constructor’s Championship still needs to be sorted and the battle is unsurprisingly with Mercedes and Red Bull Racing. Mercedes hold a healthy lead, but Red Bull remain within touching distance with only 28 points separating the teams.