F1 start time: What time does the Chinese Grand Prix start? How to watch and live stream

The Shanghai International Circuit has now been on the F1 calendar for two decades.
Here is the F1 start time information from around the world as the Chinese Grand Prix moves up to be the second race of the 2025 season.
There will be no Zhou Guanyu on the grid this year after his move to be Ferrari’s reserve driver, but a passionate crowd is still likely to be in place in Shanghai as Formula 1 returns to China.
What time does the Chinese Grand Prix start?
The Chinese Grand Prix will start at 3pm local time at Shanghai on Sunday 23 March 2025, which equates to these times in the following territories around the world:
United States and Canada*: 12am Pacific Time, 2am Central Time, 3am Eastern
Mexico: 1am [Mexico City]
United Kingdom: 7am
Central European Time**: 8am
South Africa: 9am
Gulf Standard Time: 11am
India: 12.30pm
Indonesia*: 2pm [Western Indonesia Time]
China: 3pm
Singapore: 3pm
Malaysia: 3pm
Philippines: 3pm
Japan: 4pm
Australia*: 6pm [Australian Eastern Daylight Time]
New Zealand: 8pm
*Convert to check locally if you do not live in an area of this territory with these time zones.
**Covers 30 nations and territories: Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Kosovo, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain (except the Canary Islands), Sweden, Switzerland, Vatican City.
How to watch the Chinese Grand Prix on TV
Viewers in the UK can stream every F1 race live with a Sky Sports subscription or a NOW Sports Month Membership. With NOW TV, there is no contract in place and you can cancel any time!
Different nations and territories around the world have their own broadcasting rights deals with Formula 1, and here is a selection of where F1 fans will be able to watch from across the globe, be it through pay TV or free-to-air:
Argentina: Fox Sports
Australia: Fox Sports
Brazil: BandSports, TV Bandeirantes
Canada: RDS (French), TSN (English)
Central Asia: Setanta Sports
China: CCTV
France: Canal+
Germany: Sky Sport F1
India: FanCode
Italy: Sky Sport F1
Japan: DAZN, Fuji TV
Latin America (except Argentina and Mexico): ESPN
Malaysia: beIN Sports
Mexico: Fox Sports
Middle East and North Africa: beIN Sports
Netherlands: Viaplay
New Zealand: Sky Sport, Prime (highlights)
Pakistan: A Sports
Republic of Ireland: Sky Sports F1, Channel 4 UK (highlights)
South Korea: Coupang Play
Spain: DAZN
Sub-Saharan Africa: SuperSport
United Kingdom: Sky Sports F1, Channel 4 (highlights)
United States: ESPN, ESPN Deportes
PlanetF1.com recommends
👉 The best value-for-money F1 races to watch in style!
👉 F1 2025 v F1 2026: Nine key questions ahead of huge regulation changes
Chinese Grand Prix live stream: How to watch online
F1 fans will be able to stream the Chinese Grand Prix through platforms such as NOW and Sky Go in the UK.
F1 TV Pro is available worldwide in selected territories, which offers exclusive features like onboard cameras from all 20 cars, pre and post-race shows and much more.
F1 TV Pro is also able to be live streamed via Apple TV, Chromecast Generation 2 and above, Android TV, Google TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Roku, without ad breaks and with commentary available in six languages.
Here is a list of all the territories where F1 TV Pro is available.
How long is the Chinese Grand Prix?
Every Formula 1 Grand Prix bar Monaco is calculated to be around the same distance, to be raced around approximately 305km or the distance covered by 300km, plus one lap.
For the Chinese Grand Prix at Shanghai, this equates to 56 laps.
Read next: F1 schedule: When is the next F1 race and where is it being held?