Sky Sport presents the 2008 Formula 1 schedules

All 18 Formula 1 GPs live: from Friday to Sunday three days always live including free practice, qualifying, racing and connections. On the night between Thursday 13th and Friday 14th March, with the start of free practice for the Australian Grand Prix, F1 returns to SKY Sport and presents great news in the live story of the 2008 season: increasingly interactive ' rich, the new weekly magazine and the arrival of big names in the SKY Sport team, such as Giancarlo Fisichella, Tamara Ecclestone (photo) and Giorgio Piola who will join the very confirmed Marc Gene' and Gabriele Tarquini, technical voices alongside Carlo Vanzini.

And again: exclusive services, live connections, extensive pre- and post-race coverage, as well as the possibility of watching Formula 1 live, only on SKY, in 16:9 panoramic format, finally enjoying the full quality of the images. In total, between Formula 1, GP2, Porsche Super Cup and the new BMW formula, a total of around 40 hours of programming every weekend, of which over 25 live. And not only that: over 15 hours of programming will be dedicated every weekend to re-presenting the events for those who have not been able to watch the tests and races live or wish, in any case, to see them again.

During the race weekends, there will also be a narration of the history of Formula 1 and its main protagonists, thanks to the revival of historic GPs, to relive the most exciting overtakings with the drivers who wrote the most beauties of Formula 1.

These are the main characteristics of the 2008 F1 World Championship on SKY Sport, an offer that stands out for variety, quality, quantity, choice, exclusives and technology at the service of the enthusiast. And the entire offer can be seen on the Sport package, at no additional cost.

Only on SKY will Formula 1 also be interactive: from home, like in the pits, to experience every minute of the race through "SKY Sport Active", at 300 km per hour. From SKY Sport 2, the F1 reference channel, you can access the interactive mosaic on Saturdays and Sundays via the green button. In a completely new graphic design, the interactive service will allow the viewer to decide to keep the direction of the race in the video and open - using the arrows on the remote control - one or more windows with the preferred information.

There will be four "active" channels turned on at the same time: the race, the "on board" camera which will transmit live images from the cameras positioned on the single-seaters, the "Times" screen for the most demanding and curious enthusiasts and the new of a new on-board camera to follow corners, overtaking and braking from the drivers' driving perspective, with Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa in the foreground. At the end of the race, the "highlights" channel: to review and enjoy the most beautiful images, the start and the decisive overtaking.

From this year, the interactive mosaic is enriched with a new service just a "green button" away on the remote control, which can be accessed from SKY Sport 2 on Saturdays and Sundays: an interactive guide to Formula 1, updated in time real, with rankings, results, maps and race circuit sheets, calendar and driver sheets.

During the "night" GPs (Australia, Malaysia, China, Japan), at the end of qualifying on Saturday and after the race on Sunday, by pressing the green button from SKY Sport 2, it will be possible to follow the highlights until 13.00 pm of the day. So as not to miss a single overtaking step.

And given that F1 owes its charm above all to three ingredients, namely the emotion of the races, the glitter of the world that revolves around the circuits and the grand prix and the technical aspects of the races and the technological secrets of the cars, SKY Sport is equipped to best illustrate these three aspects, strengthening, with exceptional names, the team of its experts who will follow, step by step, weekend after weekend, the 2008 season of the great "circus".

To bring the atmosphere to life on the World Championship circuits and to reveal something that is normally off limits to the spectators, a great Italian driver arrives: Giancarlo Fisichella, a special "infiltrator", who will bring the SKY cameras between the pits, backboxes and paddock, thanks also to his commitment as a driver for the Force India team. Marc Gene', Ferrari test driver, and Gabriele Tarquini, who will join the commentary from Carlo Vanzini, are very confirmed in the technical commentary.

The glamor of F1 will have no more secrets, thanks to Tamara Ecclestone, young daughter of F1 patron Bernie Ecclestone. Tamara, who grew up among motorhomes all over the world and the most exclusive environments of the international jet set, will talk exclusively on SKY Sport about what happens behind the scenes of the great racing circus, and will interview the protagonists of the World Championship and well-known faces that revolve around the circus.

Revealing the small and large technical secrets of the cars in competition this year will be Giorgio Piola, a popular F1 television commentator for years. With him, Gabriele Tredozi, former technical director of Minardi, then Toro Rosso, to explain the technologies, projects, mechanics and every detail related to the single-seaters. Biagio Maglienti will be at the pit lane for interviews, while Sandro Donato Grosso will be the correspondent to the paddocks.

Insights, interviews and curiosities about the world of motoring every Wednesday at 23.00pm on SKY Sport 2: “F1 Fever”, the one-hour program hosted by newcomer Eugenia Vaccariello, will talk about the World Championship through images, dedicated reports and contributions from “experts”. Giorgio Piola will take care of the technical "corner", while Marc Gene', on board the simulator, will present the World Championship circuits. Gabriele Tarquini will revisit the GP just held with analyzes and technical comments.

Reinforcing the SKY team once again in the F1 story will be Oscar Orefici, prestigious doyen of sports and motoring journalism.

In addition to F1, on SKY Sport also the races of the "Porsche Super Cup" motoring championships, the fastest international single-make championship in the world, "GP2", the series featuring young motor racing talents, and the new " Formula BMW”, the German car manufacturer's single-brand competition, broadcast on SKY Sport for the first time. For GP2 and the Porsche Super Cup Lucio Rizzica will provide commentary, while Gabriele Tarquini and Thomas Biagi will take turns providing technical commentary. Pit reporter Simone De Luca. For the BMW formula the commentary will be by Simone De Luca, the technical commentary by Thomas Biagi or Gabriele Tarquini. Pit reporter Biagio Maglienti.

To complete the offer of engines, also the "FIA GT", with the sports versions of some of the most prestigious car manufacturers in the world such as Aston Martin, Corvette, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati and Porsche, and the "DTM" ( Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters), the most important touring car championship in Europe.