TV Guide: The first laps of the new F1 season and Six Nations crunch time

There aren’t many weeks in sport as busy as this one. From today’s first lap in the new Formula One season to the last kick in rugby’s Six Nations next Saturday it takes in a cricket World Cup final, rounds of 16 in four football cups, the fifth major in golf, the fifth grand slam in tennis, the Paralympics and more.

Unless you are reading this very early you will have missed the Australian Grand Prix (Sky Sports Main, 4am). The circus then quickly moves on to Shanghai for the season’s first sprint race (Saturday, Sky Sports F1, 3am).

At lunchtime today we have the final of the 10th men’s T20 World Cup in Ahmedabad (Sky Sports Cricket, 1.30pm) with India seeking their third title against New Zealand, who have never won it.

Port Vale, bottom of League One, are the lowest-placed side left in the fifth round of the FA Cup. They play Sunderland today (TNT Sports 1, 1.30pm). Arsenal and Manchester City went into the weekend chasing a quadruple. On Wednesday, they are away respectively to Bayer Leverkusen and Real Madrid in the Champions League (TNT Sports 3 & 1, 5.45pm and 8pm). Four other English clubs remain in contention.

Constitution Hill, winner of the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham in 2023, has been withdrawn from the race after three recent falls. The New Lion is now favourite (Tuesday, ITV1, 4pm). In the Gold Cup, Galopin Des Champs, twice a winner and second last year, has drifted out to 10-1 with Jango Baie a nostril ahead at the bookies (Friday, ITV1, 4pm).

The Players Championship at Sawgrass (from Thursday, Sky Sports Golf, 11.30am), with its famous island 17th hole, fancies itself as a quasi-major in golf and seldom produces an unknown winner. Rory McIlroy went from lifting the trophy there to winning the Masters last season.

In tennis, the Indian Wells Open in California is also usually won by the big names, including Britain’s Jack Draper last year (all week, Sky Sports Tennis, 6pm).

Elsewhere, Oscar Onley will challenge Jonas Vingegaard in the Paris-Nice cycling race (every day, TNT Sports 1, 2.15pm), while Neil Simpson hopes to defend his Paralympic Super-G title (tomorrow, Channel 4, 9.50am). Ollie Hill is also a medal prospect in para-snowboarding (Saturday, Channel 4, 10.06am). Then settle in for three back-to-back rugby matches to conclude the Six Nations: Ireland v Scotland (ITV1, 2.10pm), Wales v Italy (BBC One, 4.40pm) and France v England (ITV1, 8.10pm). It seems ages ago that we were talking up the last as a winner-takes-all decider. After yesterday’s shock in Edinburgh, Scots and Irish will suddenly find themselves cheering for the English to win in Paris.

Photography by Martin Keep / AFP via Getty Images