New Sky F1 update after channel taken off air after Lando Norris victory

The Sky F1 channel has returned to air after being replaced by a specialist darts channel over the winter break.

Sky Sports has held the live Formula 1 broadcast rights in the United Kingdom and Ireland since the 2012 season.

Sky F1 returns to air after Luke Littler wins darts world championship

Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for news you can trust

This article was originally published on January 7 2026

The Sky F1 channel has regularly been taken off air at the end of each season to temporarily make way for a specialist darts channel, Sky Sports Darts, to coincide with the highly popular PDC World Darts Championship.

As reported at the time by PlanetF1.com, the Sky F1 channel was replaced in December just days after McLaren driver Lando Norris secured his maiden F1 title at the 2025 season finale in Abu Dhabi.

Norris’s triumph saw him become the 11th British world champion in F1 history and the first since Lewis Hamilton secured his record-equalling seventh drivers’ title in 2020.

Ranked: Martin Brundle and Jacques Villeneuve among best Sky F1 pundits

Ranking the best pundits in F1: Brundle, Rosberg, Hill and more all rated

Jacques Villeneuve’s bold and savage quotes: Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton targeted

The PDC World Darts Championship concluded on Saturday with Luke Littler, the 18-year-old sensation, defeating Gian van Veen to seal a second consecutive title.

With the darts tournament over, the Sky F1 channel has returned to air ahead of the start of launch season and pre-season testing later this month.

Red Bull Racing and Racing Bulls are in line to be the first teams to take the covers of their 2026 liveries as things stand, with a Ford season-launch event in Detroit set to take place on January 15.

Haas is expected to be the first team to reveal its actual 2026 car with the team’s launch brought forward to January 19 to avoid a clash with Ferrari and Alpine on January 23.

A five-day test will be held behind closed doors in Barcelona across January 26-30 with each team permitted to carry out a maximum of three days of running.

Two further tests will follow in Bahrain on February 11-13 and 18-20 before the 2026 season begins with the Australian Grand Prix on March 8.

Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.

You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!

Read next: Major Max Verstappen race engineer update after Aston Martin rumours