2013 ROLEX Australian Formula One Grand Prix: TEN Network

TEN host is Greg Rust and expert commentators are Daryl Beattie and Alan Jones, along with Tom Clarkson, Mark Howard and James Allen will be on the ground at Albert Park for an exciting Grand Prix in Australia as they will broadcast F1 and support categories like Carrera Cup, V8s, Celebrity Challenge etc.

ONE: Friday- 9am AWST to 4pm, Saturday- 5am AWST to 3.30pm, Sunday- 7am AWST to 4.30pm    . TEN: Saturday- 5am AWST to 3.30pm, Sunday- 7am AWST to 3.45pm                                                                                      ELEVEN: Nil                                                                                                                  

The weather is going to be on Friday is partly cloudy and a top of 27C, Saturday is expecting a few showers and a top of 22C while on Sunday there will be yet again a few showers and a top of 22C. As it looks as though it is going to be a wet Grand Prix as it will challenge the drivers to the test as the 2013 FIA Formula One World Championship comes nearer and nearer as all fans, drivers and engineers are enthusiastic about Formula One to begin at Albert Park in Melbourne, Australia. It could be a wet back-to-back Grand Prix in Australia and in Malaysia at the Sepang Circuit in Kuala Lumpur which there was torrential rain at last years 2012 PETRONAS Malaysian Grand Prix. As this years F1 could be more heavy rain then what they had in 2012 but down at Silverstone and Brazil there was torrential rain right across the weekend.  

2014 Mexican Formula One Grand Prix "coming"

Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone has confirmed that he is in talks about a Mexican Grand Prix in 2014. The race would take place at Mexico City’s Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez which last hosted an F1 race in 1992 and needs a multi-million dollar upgrade in order to do so again.

The Mexican Grand Prix was expected to return in 2006 at a street circuit just south of the international airport in the beach resort of Cancun. The race did not take place and, since then, there have been widespread rumors about when and where it would return. Ecclestone has stayed quiet about rumors but has now revealed that Mexico City is in pole position to become the new home of the Mexican Grand Prix.

However, one hurdle is likely to be fitting the Mexican Grand Prix into F1's tightly-packed calendar. There were 20 races last year -- with Russia, New Jersey, Japan are all set to join in 2014. The number of races is restricted to 20 by the Concorde Agreement but its possible to go to 24, which the contract which commits F1's 11 teams to race. Under the Concorde Agreement, the teams' unanimous consent is required to host more than 20 races in a season or if more than 60 percent of them are outside F1's traditional markets of Europe, the U.S. or Canada. But Bernie is pushing for 22 for next years world championship which will consist in South America, North America, Australasia and in Europe.

Giedo Van Der Garde at Caterham in 2013

He was signed by Caterham over a month ago for the 2013 Formula One Season starts just under a week away at Albert Park. He will be team mates with Charles Pic a former racer at Marussia. The Dutchmen says "I know I am ready to take the step up to F1 and all the work I have done throughout my career, and particularly in the last year with this team, has brought me to my ultimate goal".

The team principal Cyril Abiteboul of Caterham said "Everyone in the team is delighted that we can finally confirm that Giedo will be racing for us in the 2013 FIA Formula One World Championship. He has been part of our family since early 2012 when he joined our GP2 team and was appointed as reserve driver for the F1 team. He acquitted himself extremely well in both his GP2 season and his six FP1 sessions, progressively improving his outright pace, technical feedback and his relationship with his engineers and mechanics, giving us the clear justification for promoting him to F1".

Charles Pic and Giedo Van Der Garde replaced Hekki Kovalainen and Vitaly Petrov respectively for this season. Which could mean that there will be no Russian driver to promote the Russian Grand Prix at Sochi in 2014 which is expected to be held in November of next year, as Vladimir Putin is hoping that there will be a Russian driver as he will be pushing for it to happen.

Alan Jones joins TEN Sport for F1 Commentary Role

The 1980 Formula One World Champion "AJ" has joined TEN Sport commentary team alongside Greg Rust and Daryl Beattie. As Craig Baird has racing commitments in the Carrera Cup but it took a long hard thought and he decided to stay racing. TEN’s Head of Sport, David Barham, said: “We are delighted that Alan is joining the Formula One commentary team in 2013. He brings strong opinion, great knowledge, experience and profile to the home of premium Motorsport. It is a real coup for viewers and fans.”

He starts his commentary role for the team a week away for the 2013 Rolex Australian Formula One as you can see all the action on ONE and TEN from Friday @ 9am as they will be broadcasting the F1 breakfast with Stephen Quatermain and Natarsha Belling on Saturday as it will be simulcast on ONE and TEN throughout the weekend (LIVE in HD on ONE).

He last commentated which was for 2012 British Formula One Grand Prix at Silverstone, he did previous role for Channel 9 back in the 1990s and since 2003 TEN has held the rights to both F1 and MotoGP. TEN signed with FOM "Formula One Management" back in 2009 and they are in their 3rd year on a 5 year deal with Bernie Ecclestone as it runs from 2011-2015. As they are looking to extend that beyond 2015 in which FOX Sports don't have a say to either F1 and MotoGP. For MotoGP they are in their 4th year on a 5 year deal with Dorna as it runs from 2010-2014 but yet again they are looking to extend their contact.


As a result the NBL will be shown on TEN at 12.50am Monday morning as ONE has F1 and ELEVEN has American Idol and Neighbours encore in the time slot. TEN already has Telstra Ironwoman Series, Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Ironman Series, Rugby Union, Hyundai Hopman Cup, MotoGP, NBL and they are emerging as a key player to get the Cricket rights off 9 which could be an interesting battle as TEN put around $350 million dollars for five years for the cricket rights after they loss AFL to Seven West Media, NRL to Nine Entertainment Co. and the V8s to Seven West Media.