If you’re a Formula One fan, you’ll already know exactly which subscriptions you need to watch the 2025 F1 season unfold. But did you know that in some countries, every single race is available to live stream for free? Here’s why you should use a VPN to watch F1, and so much more.
In most places, F1 is locked behind an expensive paywall. In the UK, Sky Sports costs at least £35 per month; in the US, the most cost-efficient option is Sling Orange, which is $45.99 per month; in Australia. Kayo Sports starts at AU$25 per month.
However, in Austria, races alternate between free-to-air ORF and Servus TV; in Luxembourg every race is shown on free-to-air RTL Zwee; in Belgium free-to-air RTBF channels show every Grand Prix live.
If you’re from Austria, Luxembourg or Belgium, but you’re abroad right now and don’t want to pay for F1 coverage, or if you feel like you’re getting a raw deal, a VPN might be exactly what you’ve been looking for. Best of all, most VPNs are incredibly cheap.
What is a VPN?
A VPN, which stands for virtual private network, is a tool that both reroutes your internet traffic through a server based in a different location, and encrypts your data.
There’s a lot to unpack there, but with regards to streaming specifically, a VPN can unlock access to services in different countries, as the software makes it appear as if you’re physically in those countries.
Why use a VPN to watch F1?
You might want to use a VPN to bypass geo-restrictions. For example, free-to-air F1 broadcasters like ORFand Servus TV are only available in Austria. Broadcasters use geo-restrictions to limit access to certain live sports events, TV shows, and movies based on location.
However, VPNs can overcome these restrictions. If you’re outside Austria, a VPN allows you to connect to an Austrian server, making it appear as though you’re browsing from within the country. This grants you full access to ORF and Servus TV as if you were there.
What streaming services can VPNs unblock?
It’s as good as magic, and in our testing we’ve had success using VPNs with Sky Go, Sling TV, Kayo Sports and many more streaming services, such as Netflix, Prime Video, BBC iPlayer, Disney Plus, Max, DAZN and Peacock.
What else are VPNs good for?
In addition to helping you get around geo-restrictions, VPNs anonymize your internet browsing data by encrypting it, preventing cybercriminals, websites, advertisers, internet service providers (ISP) and governments from tracking your online activities.
Furthermore, in some cases, VPNs can boost your connection speeds. That’s because some ISPs deliberately throttle speeds, in order to get customers to upgrade to more expensive plans – think sandbagging in F1.
Rerouting and anonymizing your web traffic can help you get the most out of the service you pay for.
Do VPNs work 100% of the time?
As you can imagine, advertisers, ISPs and governments rail against the use of VPNs, while broadcasters and streaming services are locked in a never-ending battle against them.
This means it’s possible that a VPN will unlock a streaming service one day, but not the next. The cat-and-mouse nature of this battle means that the opposite is also true.
Some VPNs use obfuscation techniques to counteract VPN blocking strategies, with features such as Surfshark’s Camouflage Mode and VyprVPN’s Chameleon protocol designed to make it look as if you’re not using a VPN.
If, one day, your VPN stops working on a specific service, there are some checks you can try.
We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example: 1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service). 2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad. We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.
