Formula 1 doesn’t usually do “wonderkid takes over the world” arcs this fast. Kimi Antonelli, 19 years old, second season in the sport, has now won in China and Miami back-to-back, hit 100 points before anyone else, and pushed his own teammate George Russell into the role of the guy trying to stop him. The next stop is Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve in Montreal, a Sprint weekend, on the same track where Russell won twelve months ago. The narrative writes itself.
Stream session live with NordVPN
If you don’t have ESPN or a cable login, you’re not locked out. Four European channels broadcast every F1 session for free: RTBF Auvio in Belgium, ServusTV in Austria, RTL Zwee in Luxembourg, and SRF zwei in Switzerland. A VPN gets you in.
| Race start | Sunday, May 24, 4:00 PM ET / 1:00 PM PT / 9:00 PM BST / 10:00 PM CET |
| Format | Sprint weekend (Sprint Race Saturday, Grand Prix Sunday) |
| Free streams | RTBF Auvio (BE), ServusTV (AT), RTL Zwee (LU), SRF zwei (CH) |
| Best VPN for the job |
Why You Need a VPN to Watch the Canadian GP for Free
Free F1 streams exist, but they’re locked behind borders. RTBF Auvio only works if your IP address shows you’re in Belgium. ServusTV checks for an Austrian IP. RTL Zwee wants Luxembourg, SRF zwei wants Switzerland. Open any of these from a U.S. connection and you’ll hit a geo-block error within seconds.
A VPN sidesteps the problem by routing your traffic through a server in the country you pick. The platform sees a local visitor, you see the race. It’s the same workaround that lets people in Europe watch the NFL on free German channels, or fans abroad keep their Netflix library when they travel.
One thing to know upfront: none of these four channels carries English commentary. ServusTV and SRF zwei are in German, RTBF Auvio is in French, RTL Zwee is in Luxembourgish. The world feed is identical to what Sky and ESPN use, so the broadcast itself looks the same, and team radio plays in English regardless. Most fans we know mute the commentary anyway, especially during a Sprint weekend where things happen too fast for talk to keep up.
Among VPN options, NordVPN is the one that keeps coming up in motorsport subreddits and Discord servers when people ask how to watch races for free.
How to Stream the Canadian Grand Prix With NordVPN
The process takes about ninety seconds. Install NordVPN, open the app, type “Belgium” into the country search and connect. Then head to RTBF Auvio in your browser and click play. That’s it. No account is required on RTBF, no payment info, no email. Same flow on ServusTV (pick Austria as the server), RTL Zwee (Luxembourg), or SRF zwei (Switzerland).
We tested the setup from a New York connection a few hours before publishing. Belgian server, RTBF Auvio, full HD stream, no buffering, latency under five seconds versus the live broadcast. Worth noting NordVPN has thousands of servers worldwide and apps for everything: iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, Linux, Smart TV, and even gaming consoles via router setup.
Get NordVPN, 76% off + 3 months free
The current NordVPN deal runs at 76% off plus three extra months on a two-year plan, starting at $3.09 per month. There’s a 30-day money-back guarantee, no questions asked. Watch the race weekend, request a refund through support, get every cent back. Net cost to watch the Canadian GP: zero.
Paying for ESPN, F1 TV, or Sky? Read This First
The official U.S. broadcaster is ESPN, which means you need a cable subscription, or a streaming bundle like Fubo or Sling at around $40 per month. F1 TV Premium runs $29.99 per month and gives you onboard cameras and team radio, which is great if you’re a hardcore fan, but it’s still a paid subscription. UK viewers get Sky Sports F1 at around £25 monthly on top of an existing Sky bundle.
In Canada, the actual Canadian Grand Prix is free on CTV, but only if you’re physically inside the country. CTV blocks foreign IPs the same way RTBF does to non-Belgians. A VPN connected to a Canadian server unlocks CTV too, which is the move if you want English commentary.
So the math is simple. Paying for cable, F1 TV, or Sky gets you the race plus everything else those platforms offer year-round. If you only care about Formula 1, a VPN plus a free European channel costs nothing after the refund and gets you every session of every weekend.
Don’t Bother With Free VPNs
Free VPN apps are tempting and they’re also useless for this specific task. Most don’t have servers in Belgium, Austria, Luxembourg, or Switzerland. The ones that do throttle your bandwidth so hard a live stream becomes unwatchable within minutes. Some free services also sell your data, which is the opposite of what you want.
The 30-day money-back guarantee on NordVPN exists exactly for this kind of one-off use. Sign up, watch the GP weekend, request the refund. You’re not committed to anything.
Try NordVPN risk-free for 30 days
F1 Canadian Grand Prix 2026: Complete Session Times
Five sessions across three days, all times converted for U.S. and European viewers:
| Session | Day | ET | PT | BST | CET |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Practice 1 | Friday, May 22 | 12:30 PM | 9:30 AM | 5:30 PM | 6:30 PM |
| Sprint Qualifying | Friday, May 22 | 4:30 PM | 1:30 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:30 PM |
| Sprint Race | Saturday, May 23 | 12:00 PM | 9:00 AM | 5:00 PM | 6:00 PM |
| Qualifying | Saturday, May 23 | 4:00 PM | 1:00 PM | 9:00 PM | 10:00 PM |
| Grand Prix | Sunday, May 24 | 4:00 PM | 1:00 PM | 9:00 PM | 10:00 PM |
One last thing on the storyline. Antonelli leads, but Russell is the man who won this race a year ago, who took victory in Australia to open 2026, and who has a Mercedes contract worth a reported $50 million per year riding on him stepping up. Then there’s McLaren: Norris and Piastri finished second and third in Miami, and the upgrade package they brought to Florida is the kind of mid-season jump that flips championships. The Sprint format adds chaos. One bad qualifying lap on Friday and you’re starting Saturday’s mini-race from the back. Anything can happen, and the same VPN trick gets you every other race on the calendar plus MotoGP if you’re into bikes too.
