ESPN listen to fans drop ads from live F1 coverage

ESPN will run all of the remaining qualifying and race telecasts of the 2018 Formula 1 season commercial-free after listening to fans after their Australian Grand Prix coverage.

ESPN joined forces with Sky Sports to deliver broadcast coverage of this year's campaign. That deal includes every practice session, qualifying and all 21 races of the year. ESPN also broadcasts Sky Sports' build-up show 'On The Grid', which it will do for every race this year.

Having listened to viewer feedback of the Australian Grand Prix coverage the decision was made to run commercial-free during qualifying and the race at the following event in Bahrain. This was met positively by race fans across America and it will be extended for the duration of the current campaign.

ESPN will continue to look at ways to improve its F1 coverage throughout the year.

"We intend to present the F1 races in this way for the balance of the 2018 season," said Burke Magnus, ESPN executive vice president, programming & scheduling. "F1 fans are passionate and we listened to a lot of feedback from them -- the fans are very informed and the feedback we received was both polite and constructive. It helped us.

"We don't have a completely finished product but we're very happy with the way the changes after Australia were received. We'll continue to keep working to make it better for the fans."

Formula 1 Heineken Chinese Grand Prix U.S. coverage presented by Mothers Polish (All times Eastern)