Formula One is more popular in India in 2023 than in the past. many viewers are habituated to using regular tv services ( star sports ) for watching live f1 races at home. later after the live race is included in OTT ( Disney Hotstar ) people are happy to view it in High Definition on OTT ( Disney Hotstar ). Since almost many are already subscribed to Hot Star for movies and entertainment tv, they didn’t have a problem watching F1 in the Hotstar app. But for 2023, F1 planned to remove tv broadcasting completely off from the traditional tv services with star sports and also stopped ott service with Disney Hotstar & started to stream races in F1 Official TV Pro App which is again expensive on the pocket for Indian audiences.
India’s First F1 Club ( F1 Meetup ) Created By Founder & President Thej Gollapalli requests F1 to withdraw their harsh decision to stop the free broadcasting of F1 On TV in India. This situation is sad and many youngsters who are in their 20s cant afford to buy yearly or monthly services additionally. In a press meet organized in Hyderabad, Telangana on 9th May 2023, Thej Gollapalli says he is confident that their plea will be accepted by F1 and viewers will get access to F1 again on TV from 2024 onwards. Let’s wait and see what will happen. It is sad that many students have to use VPN to watch F1 illegally from other sources online since they don’t want to buy a paid subscription. If not on tv, F1 should be made available and viewable in OTT apps like Hotstar or Prime again. They also appreciates the F1 TV app experience and say it’s fantastic to watch the races with a paid subscription. The Request Letter is signed by all f1 meetup club members.
