Beeb to throttle back on Formula 1

The BBC is to scale back its coverage of Formula One next season after reaching a deal with Sky Sports to share coverage of the sport.

The move follows speculation that the corporation would pull out of F1 altogether for financial reasons, and is expected to save it around £25m a year.

Under the new deal, the BBC will only broadcast half of the races and qualifying sessions live – including the British and Monaco Grand Prix – and cover others through highlights programmes.

The deal, running from 2012 until 2018, will see Sky double-up on the races shown by the BBC and screen the others exclusively.