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Following Sebastian Vettel’s win in Australia to start the 2018 Formula One season, drivers and teams will head to the desert for the Bahrain Grand Prix.
In the United States, the race is scheduled to begin Sunday morning at 11:10 a.m. ET and will be broadcast on ESPN2. If you don’t have cable or can’t get to a TV, you can watch the race live on your computer, phone or streaming device by signing up for one of the following cable-free, live-TV streaming services:
Hulu With Live TV: In addition to their extensive Netflix-like streaming library, Hulu now also offers a bundle of live channels, including ESPN2. You can sign up for “Hulu with Live TV” right here, and you can then watch a live stream of the race on your computer via the Hulu website, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the Hulu app.
DirecTV Now: ESPN2 is included in all of DirecTV Now’s four main channel packages. You can sign up for a free 7-day trial no matter what package you choose, plus you can get a free Amazon Fire TV if you prepay one month. Once signed up, you can watch the race live on your computer via the DirecTV Now website, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the DirecTV Now app.
Sling TV: ESPN2 is included in the “Sling Orange” channel package. You can sign up for a free 7-day trial of either, and you can then watch the race live on your computer via the Sling TV website, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the Sling TV app.
Preview
After a near-certain victory in Melbourne was lost due to a software malfunction, Lewis Hamilton will be looking for redemption this week in what will be his 100th start for Mercedes. Hamilton has finished on the podium in Sakhir four straight years, winning in 2014 and ’15, but Vettel stood on the top step last year and has been victorious at this race three times overall.
Still, despite that win last year, and despite a win to start the season, Vettel is quick to admit there’s still work to do for Ferrari.
“We have enough clever people to know that we’re not quick enough yet,” he said. “After every running that we do and people looking into all sorts of stuff to try and get more performance out of us, out of the team, out of the car.
“It’s also a no-brainer that we’re not quick enough yet and Mercedes is quicker. But we go racing. If you look at the pace, in testing and at the first race, it’s pretty clear that Mercedes is fastest, probably with three or four-tenths’ gap.”
If there’s someone who’s going to disrupt the domination from Ferrari and Mercedes, who have combined to grab all nine podium spots in the last three years of this race, it’s likely Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo, who finished fourth in Melbourne and had the fastest time during Friday’s practice.
McLaren’s Fernando Alonso is also one to watch. Though he hasn’t been on the podium since 2014, he has three career wins at Bahrain, and his team’s 2018 campaign started on a very bright note with a fifth-place finish in Australia.