New F1 season will be available live on the web via the BBC's media player

The 2009 season of Formula One will be available live on the web via the BBC, the corporation has confirmed.

The races and qualifying sessions will also be available on iPlayer, the BBC's web-based media player, which will allow UK viewers to watch the races up to seven days later.

The BBC secured the television rights to F1 in March last year, 12 years after ITV took control of the coverage.

At the time, Bernie Ecclestone expressed delight at the transfer, saying, "The BBC has some innovative ideas to consolidate and expand our UK fan base."

Until now there have only been rumours that the package would include broadcast on the web or via iPlayer.

But today Richard Carr, senior F1 producer on BBC TV Sport, confirmed: "The qualifying and races will be streamed live on the BBC website for UK consumption and the BBC1 F1 transmissions will be available on the iPlayer."

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