F1 has experienced significant growth in recent seasons, especially in the United States. The popularity of Netflix The documentary series ‘Drive to Survive’ and the expansion of the F1 calendar to three races in the US (including last season’s inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix) have helped create a new generation of F1 fans in the US did.
But will these new fans continue to stay with the sport as Max Verstappen and Red Bull continue to dominate the field? And will the ratings follow suit?
According to figures just released by ESPN They will do so this weekend at the Miami Grand Prix.
As announced by ESPN on tuesday, Sunday’s Miami Grand Prix race viewership was the largest in U.S. F1 history. ABC’s telecast of the F1 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix on Sunday, May 5th was watched by an average of 3.1 million viewers as Lando Norris defeated reigning world champion Max Verstappen to claim his first victory. “The event attracted the largest live American television audience in F1 history. A victory for F1,” the network said in a press release on Tuesday morning.
As noted in the announcement, fans were able to watch Norris hold off Verstappen in the closing stages to take the win and take his first F1 win.
ESPN He also pointed out that viewership ratings here in the United States broke previous records.
“Race-only viewership (3:55-5:30 p.m. ET) broke the previous F1 record of 2.6 million viewers set at the inaugural Miami Grand Prix in 2022. Viewer ratings increased by 48% compared to last year’s race, attracting 2.1 million viewers. The Miami Grand Prix currently boasts one of the top three live television viewers in the United States in F1 history. ” I got it. ESPN.
It was also revealed on the network Saturday’s F1 sprint race coverage set a new record for the format as the Miami Grand Prix was included on the sprint race calendar for the first time. “Saturday’s F1 sprint race averaged 946,000 viewers on ESPN, making it the most-watched sprint race since F1 introduced the format in 2021. Viewership was 883,000 in Azerbaijan in 2023.Saturday’s F1 qualifying on ESPN averaged 625,000 viewers.
As we noted in the lead-up to the Miami Grand Prix, one of the biggest storylines leading up to the event was the performance of the sport in the United States. As F1 continues to aim for expansion in the US, will viewers follow suit, especially if Verstappen continues to dominate the field?
If these numbers are any indication, that’s certainly the case.
