Sky Sports issue apology as major issue affects live Saudi Grand Prix coverage

Sky Sports sent an apology to viewers after sound issues plagued a live broadcast from the . The outage happened while the broadcaster was showing live footage from Jeddah on Saturday.

Third practice in went off without a hitch with the full hour of action being shown with no issues. And the same was true of the post-session show which included an interview with , among other features shown to viewers on Saturday afternoon.

But the gremlins started to take effect after the broadcast returned from an advert break and a switch to coverage of the sprint race, held at the same circuit. The title credits rolled with no issues, but it soon became clear that there was no commentary.

The usual pre-session aerial shots of the track were being shown as well as graphics giving details about the circuit. Those images were accompanied by the background music from the F2 theme tune, but no-one was talking over it as would usually be the case.

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As the broadcast showed the starting grid for the sprint race, a message was displayed on screens to let viewers know that there was indeed an issue on their end. "We're sorry about the sound problems," it read.

Fortunately for fans of the feeder series directly below F1, the issues were rectified before the start of the sprint race. Shortly before the formation lap, commentary was restored and live analysis was available again just in time for the lights to go out.

Most cars made it past the first corner safely, apart from Cian Shields. The Glasgow-born AIX driver, who holds both British and Irish nationality, came to a stop before he even arrived at the turn with obvious damage to the front wing of his car.

The race was allowed to continue though there was a virtual safety car. And double-waved yellow flags flew as the cars reached that section of the circuit again at the end of the first lap as marshals were still on the track working to remove the stricken AIX from the track.

Sky will hope to have no more technical issues as their broadcast from the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix continues over the Easter weekend. F1 qualifying is scheduled to begin at 6pm UK time and run for around an hour, before the usual period of post-race analysis.

The race itself begins on Sunday, also at 6pm. , having been announced as the latest addition to the broadcaster's line-up last month.