Recording F1 on VM

For most Sky Sports you can watch from start on the Virgin Stream box, and F1 is one of those sports. You select from the EPG [programme Guide] and it gives you the choice of watching live or watching from the start. Do that from a different channel, i.e. don't leave it on the Grand Prix channel when you switch off the night before - so you aren't met by the live action before you go back! With such a programme you can use the remote control to fast forward, etc., if you want to speed past any pre-race waffle.

After the event you can select the programme via the EPG which goes back a week. It is also in catch up - the easiest way to use that is via search. I'm not sure how long Virgin keep it in catch up, probably a week.

With sports you are at the mercy of Virgin Media's EPG which unlike other platforms doesn't cope with late changes including overruns, but I don't think that the Grands Prix are often affected by that, and at least for F1 the subsequent programmes can be seen on catch-up in the same manner, so you should be fine.

There is the odd sporting event on Sky where this doesn't operate, the main ones that I've seen are Sky Sports Racing, and I believe some of the tennis doesn't make catch up, as Sky doesn't have the rights.

I haven't used it but you can make the most of Sky Sports+ with the red button and get a “Watch from Start” prompt if the stream supports it.