Three tiers: Pro / Access / Free
F1 TV Pro ($84.99/yr or $9.99/mo US): full live races + all OnBoard cameras + Driver Radio + Team Radio + pilot 4K UHD in select regions. F1 TV Access (cheaper, $26.99/yr): live without OnBoard + highlights + analysis + archive. F1 Free: official pre/post-race clips + some F2/F3 — no live. Pro is what real fans buy — exclusive OnBoard angles are its only edge over local partners like Sky or Canal+. Pricing is USD-normalized but regional conversion differs: India ₹3499/yr (~$42, nearly half), Argentina ~30% off in local pesos.
The 7-country licensed-broadcast blackout
F1 TV's geoblock is NOT government censorship — F1 sold local broadcast rights to pay-TV operators and closes F1 TV in those countries to avoid competing with its own licensees. Current list: UK (Sky F1 + some Channel 4), Germany (Sky DE), France (Canal+), Italy (Sky Sport), Netherlands (Viaplay), Austria (ORF + Servus TV), Japan (DAZN). Mainland China is different — not on the list, not actively blocked, 2024 saw partial CCTV 5 resumption, and F1 TV is VPN-reachable. US is a core licensed market (ESPN TV + F1 TV parallel) so US pricing is most complete and stable.
AF3 node recommendation — 2 goals, 2 strategies
Goal A (just watch F1 TV from the 7 blocked countries): exit via a node that's both price-stable and fully supported — US first (smooth payment, full catalog), Canada second (no blackouts, similar pricing), Argentina/India (cheapest but payment may be restricted). Goal B (cheaper cross-region signup): India ₹3499/yr ≈ $42 is the best deal, but needs Indian UPI or Indian card. AF3's F1 TV strictness is medium-loose (2-3 star) — residential passes, quality VPN mostly passes, DC IPs only ~20% flagged as suspicious, far looser than Netflix/Disney+.
Multi-device and 4K pilot
F1 TV supports iOS/Android/Apple TV/Fire TV/Chromecast/Roku/LG WebOS/Samsung Tizen + Web. Since 2024 season, 4K UHD live pilot on select Americas, Middle East, and Australian races (Bathurst, Las Vegas night race verified). Everyday stream is still 1080p 50fps. 2 concurrent streams on Pro, 1 on Access. Offline download on mobile is unlimited (subject to license expiry). Driver Radio — Pro-exclusive — live-translates team radio during races. Weekend headlines often originate here (e.g. Verstappen cursing Lando).
Payment and account region validation
F1 TV signup region is set by the IP at signup; changing it later requires support (no self-serve region switch in account center). Payment: Visa/MC/Amex/PayPal/Apple Pay/Google Pay. Users in blocked-rights countries (UK/DE/etc.) who sign up via VPN and then open the app on their native IP will hit 'F1 TV is not available in your region' — VPN must stay on 24/7. Different from Netflix: Netflix account region follows billing address, but F1 TV validates IP at every session. Mid-sub region changes are fine as long as VPN stays on.