How to watch F1 with a VPN: It’s EASY and works anywhere in the world! (September 2023)

In most countries, if you want to watch F1 live, you need to subscribe to an expensive sports streaming service or TV channel.

This can be frustrating, especially if all you want to watch is F1 and have to pay for content that you’re not even going to watch.

Fortunately, F1’s proprietary streaming service, F1 TV Pro can give you live access to every race. But frustratingly, F1 TV Pro is only available in a handful of countries.

The good news is with a VPN you can gain access to F1 TV Pro anywhere in the world. That means you’ll be able to watch F1 TV Pro in locations where the streaming service isn’t available.

This article will explain how to watch F1 with a VPN. It’s easy and you’ll be able to watch every race no matter where you are.

See also:

• How to watch Hulu with a VPN: It’s EASY! (September 2023)
• F1 TV Pro not working with VPN? Try these EASY fixes! (September 2023)

How to watch F1 with a VPN: Quick Guide

The best way to watch F1 with a VPN is by gaining access to F1 TV Pro.

To do that follow these simple steps:

Disclaimer: If you’re already subscribed to a streaming service that gives you access to F1 races, you don’t need to gain access to F1 TV Pro. All you need to do is download ExpressVPN ($6.67/month), connect to a server in your home country and watch that streaming service.

What is a VPN?

A VPN is a Virtual Private Network. This is a piece software that allows you to surf the internet anonymously and privately.

It does this by doing five things:

1. Creating a Secure Tunnel: When you connect to a VPN, it sets up a secure and encrypted tunnel between your device and the online service you’re visiting. This means no one can see what you’re doing on the internet.
2. Encrypting your data: When using a VPN any data you send or receive while online gets encrypted. This means its converted into a code that only your device can understand.
3. Hiding Your Identity: When your data travels through this tunnel, your IP address – which acts as your online identifier – is hidden, and the VPN server’s IP address is used instead. This means if someone was able to access your data, they won’t be able to tell that it’s coming from your personal location, it looks like its coming from the VPN server.
4. Changing Your Virtual Location: The VPN server acts as a middleman between you and the internet. Since it can be located in a different city or country, it makes websites and online services think you’re accessing them from there, not your actual physical location.
5. Protecting Your Privacy: Because of the encryption and the changed IP address, your online activities become private, and your internet service provider, hackers, or advertisers can’t easily monitor or track what you do online.

Which makes a good VPN for F1 TV Pro?

There are four categories that differentiae a bad VPN from a good VPN:

1. Speed: The top VPNs for F1 TV Pro must be fast. Slow VPNs may cause buffering and loading problems while using F1 TV Pro.
2. Global Servers: A good VPN for F1 TV Pro should have servers located worldwide. This means you’ll be able to access multiple servers around the world where F1 TV Pro is available. That way if one stops working, you can switch to another one and see if that’s working.
3. Security: If a VPN cannot provide a completely secure connection, it will probably get blocked by F1 TV Pro. The streaming service actively tries to block VPN access, so security is essential when using a VPN to watch F1 TV Pro.
4. Reliability: The most crucial aspect of a VPN is its ability to bypass F1 TV Pro’s VPN-blocking techniques. If a VPN can’t do this, it won’t work with F1 TV Pro, and you may end up spending money on a VPN that won’t work with the streaming service.

How do we test the best VPNs for F1 TV Pro?

We test the best VPNs for F1 TV Pro over multiple criteria:

1. We test how secure the VPN is: We do this by running it through DNS leak tests. If the VPN has a DNS leak issue, it has an issue with its security, as internet service providers (ISPs) can still potentially see your online data. The best VPNs don’t come across these sorts of issues.
2. The number of servers: The best VPNs have thousands of servers around the world. The more servers, the better. Lesser VPNs, especially free VPNs, don’t have many servers meaning there’s less opportunity for you to surf the web anonymously.
3. Speed: We measure the speed of a VPN by doing speed tests for multiple servers worldwide. We then compare this to our base internet speed with a VPN turned off.
4. Compatibility with streaming services: A critical use case for VPNs is the ability to access geo-blocked streaming services. Unfortunately, these services try and prevent VPNs from accessing their platforms. The best VPNs have measures in place to get around these blocks. When testing a VPN, we try it with several geo-blocked streaming services. The best VPNs will allow you to watch all the leading streaming services worldwide.
5. Price: Based on our research, the average cost of the top 20 VPNs is $4.33/month. We use this as a comparison when looking for the best-value VPNs.
6. Devices: VPNs are usually compatible with more than one device simultaneously. Obviously, the more, the better.

The best VPNs for F1 TV Pro

Does F1 TV Pro block VPNs?

Yes, F1 TV Pro does try to block VPNs.

While it doesn’t have the ability to block a VPN entirely, it can block the IP addresses a VPN provides. It does this by monitoring for an abnormal amount of IP addresses coming from the same IP address.

Usually, only a household of devices (8-10) will connect to F1 TV Pro via the same IP address, however when someone uses a popular VPN, more often than not they have to share the IP address with a number of other customers. This is because most VPN has more customers than IP addresses.

When hundreds or thousands of people connect to F1 TV Pro via the same VPN IP address, F1 TV Pro knows it’s a VPN and blocks it.

Will any VPN work with F1 TV Pro?

Not all VPNs are created equal. VPNs are now hugely popular and there’s been an influx of both good and bad VPN services.

A lot of the time, VPNs won’t work with F1 TV Pro. This is because F1 TV Pro tries to block VPNs, and lesser VPNs struggle to get around these blocks.

To get around F1 TV Pro’s VPN restrictions, a VPN must have the infrastructure and financial backing to stay one step ahead of the streaming services blocking techniques.

Unfortunately, most VPNs don’t have this kind of backing and they aren’t able to beat F1 TV Pro’s blocks.

To avoid that, you need to use a VPN that can beat F1 TV Pro’s blocks. We recommend ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) or Private Internet Access ($2.03/month).

Both ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) and Private Internet Access ($2.03/month) have fast servers worldwide, and most importantly, they have measures in place to ensure they remain compatible with the streaming service, which will ensure you can watch F1 TV Pro anywhere in the world.

Does F1 TV Pro work with a VPN?

Yes, F1 TV Pro still works with a VPN, however, you need to use a VPN that has measures in place to get around F1 TV Pro’s VPN-blocking techniques.

ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) and Private Internet Access ($2.03/month) are the best for this because they play a game of cat and mouse with F1 TV Pro. 

F1 TV Pro is getting pretty good at identifying and blocking IP addresses provided by VPNs. If an IP address provided by ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) or Private Internet Access ($2.03/month) gets blocked by F1 TV Pro, these VPNs will close that IP address and open a new unblocked one.

This will ensure you’re staying one step ahead of the VPN blocking techniques F1 TV Pro uses and will allow you to watch the streaming service reliably worldwide.

Is watching F1 TV Pro with a VPN legal?

Using a VPN to watch F1 TV Pro is perfectly legal so long as you aren’t based in one of these countries: China, Russia, Iran, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, North Korea, Iraq, Belarus, Turkmenistan, Egypt, Eritrea, Seychelles, Suriname, Namibia, Slovenia, Nicaragua and Tajikistan.

The reason using a VPN to watch F1 TV Pro is illegal in these countries is because these locations heavily restrict or outright ban VPNs and simply using a VPN is against the law.

The good news is, if you’re not in one of these countries, using a VPN to watch F1 TV Pro is legal. However, it’s important to know that watching F1 TV Pro may go against the streaming platform’s terms of use.

When you sign up to F1 TV Pro you automatically agree to its terms of use. These are legally binding rules and conditions that outline what you are allowed and are not allowed to do on the service. In here it states “When you register and purchase Services from us, you will confirm and we will verify the country from which you purchase the Services as being the country in which you are habitually resident” and “If your Home Territory is not a Portability Territory, your right to access content outside your Home Territory will be subject to any rights restrictions we are subject to in the country from which you attempt to access the Services.”

Basically, what this is saying is using a VPN to access F1 TV Pro in a location where it isn’t available goes against its terms of use and the streaming service has the right to ban your account if you do this.

It sounds scary but it really isn’t. Given the wide-spread use of VPNs, plus the many legitimate and legal use cases for VPNs, it’s fair to suggest that banning customers for using a VPN would be a heavy-handed and financially costly policy for F1 TV Pro to enforce.

If you’re trying to watch F1 TV Pro with a VPN, you risk having your account banned, however, the best VPNs use military-grade encryption it is impossible for the streaming service to trace where you’re physically accessing its content from.

There’s one final thing to note on the subject: F1 TV Pro has never banned anyone for using a VPN to access its service.

For more information you can check out our article answering Is streaming with a VPN legal?

Will a free VPN work with F1 TV Pro?

Free VPNs are attractive choices when trying to secure your online connection or watch F1 TV Pro in a different location. However, there are a number of reasons why we don’t recommend using a free VPN.

1. Limited Security: Free VPNs often aren’t as secure as other VPNs. They don’t usually have strong encryption protocols, and some free VPNs have even been found logging user data. This means the VPN is collecting your online data and, in some cases, selling it to third parties. This compromises your online privacy and goes against the main reason for using a VPN in the first place.
2. Feature restrictions: If you’re using a free VPN, you’ll probably come across limitations in regard to the features. There may be a limit on the number of servers you can access, there are often limits on the amount of data you can use with the VPN, and there have even been examples of reductions in speed. This can hamper the online experience and make streaming content or downloading files with the VPN difficult.
3. Lack of customer support: VPNs can sometimes be tricky to navigate, and the best VPNs often have customer support to assist you when you’re having trouble. Free VPNs very rarely have customer support options.
4. Limited server locations: If you’re using a VPN to watch a streaming service, it’s better to have more servers worldwide. Free VPNs often have severe limitations in regard to how many servers they have available. This can make it more difficult to access specific content.