Warwick blasts BBC for scaling back Formula One coverage

Derek Warwick believes the BBC’s decision to scale back their Formula One coverage could see millions of fans turn their back on the sport.

The BBC has been the exclusive broadcaster of F1 in the UK since 2009 but, from next season, Sky Sports will show every Grand Prix live, with the terrestrial channel covering only half the races.

And Warwick told talkSPORT: "We all know Sky will do a brilliant job, the question for me is: why is the BBC allowing all their sport to disappear off the channel?

"At the minute, I'm going to pay £124 to watch some cookery program, Eastenders and Strictly Come Dancing or whatever it is. I'm not interested. I'm a sports person and I know I'm a little bit biased but I kind of look at the BBC and see it as my sports channel. If I want to watch cricket, golf, motor racing, I want to watch it on the BBC.

"Of course I've got Sky, because I can afford it, but there's millions of people out there who can't afford Sky and I can see that they will end up losing their desire to watch race after race because the BBC are only covering half the races."