Formula 1 just delivered a shocking upset: its viewership exploded, reaching record highs just as it said goodbye to ESPN. But here's the twist – it's all happening right before the sport jumps to Apple TV, a move that could completely change how we track its success.
ESPN's eight-year journey with Formula 1 concluded in spectacular fashion, marked by unprecedented viewership milestones. The final race of the season, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, achieved an average rating of 0.8 and attracted 1.53 million viewers on ESPN. This figure represents the largest audience ever recorded for this particular race, surpassing the previous record of 1.0 million viewers set the prior year. This is a huge win for F1 and ESPN, proving the sport's growing popularity in the US.
It's important to acknowledge a change in Nielsen's methodology, which could have affected those numbers. In the past year, Nielsen expanded its out-of-home viewing sample to encompass 100% of markets and incorporated "Big Data" from smart TVs and set-top boxes alongside its traditional panel. But here's where it gets controversial... Even with these changes, experts say it's unlikely they fully explain the astonishing 53% increase in viewership. This suggests that organic interest in F1 is genuinely soaring.
The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, which saw Max Verstappen secure the victory while Lando Norris clinched the season title, marked the final Formula 1 race broadcast on the ESPN networks. Starting next season, Formula 1 will transition to Apple TV under a five-year media rights agreement.
What's truly astounding is that Abu Dhabi was the 16th out of 24 races this season to achieve a new viewership high. Furthermore, 21 races demonstrated year-over-year increases in viewership. And this is the part most people miss... while the methodological changes from Nielsen offer some caveats, the overall trend is undeniable: F1 is capturing a larger audience than ever before. The Miami Grand Prix, although the season's most-watched race with 2.17 million viewers, was among the three exceptions that did not experience increased viewership. This is likely due to the absence of the NBA playoff lead-in, which significantly boosted last year's race to an all-time F1 viewership record.
The complete 2025 F1 season averaged 1.32 million viewers on the ESPN networks, reflecting a 20% increase from the previous year's average of 1.10 million. This also makes it the most-watched F1 season on U.S. television. The prior record was 1.21 million viewers in 2022. But let's be real: that was before the era of "Big Data" and widespread out-of-home viewing. It's quite possible that, if measured under current standards, the 2022 season would still rank even higher.
Looking back, the last five F1 seasons, starting in 2021, have consistently ranked as the five most-watched seasons on record. Each of these seasons surpassed the long-standing high-water mark of 748,000 viewers set in 1995. Given that 1995 was part of ESPN's initial run broadcasting F1 races, ESPN has now aired the six most-watched F1 seasons in the last 30 years (at least).
To put things into perspective, when ESPN initiated its current F1 coverage in 2018, the first season averaged only 554,000 viewers. Even this figure represented an improvement over the average viewership on NBC Sports the preceding year, which stood at 538,000 viewers. This shows just how far the sport has come in building its audience in the US.
Compared to other motorsports series, F1 viewership was only slightly behind the IndyCar Series, which averaged 1.36 million viewers. However, it is essential to consider that IndyCar aired exclusively on broadcast television during the first year of its new rights deal with FOX. This undoubtedly contributed to its strong numbers.
As expected, viewership for the NASCAR Cup Series was considerably higher, averaging 2.48 million viewers across its mix of broadcast (FOX and NBC), cable (FS1, TNT, and USA), and streaming (Amazon Prime Video) platforms. F1 did, however, comfortably surpass the NASCAR Xfinity Series, which, like IndyCar, aired exclusively on broadcast TV, averaging 1.05 million viewers on CW.
Here's where the future gets uncertain. The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is likely to be the last F1 race for quite some time to have publicly accessible viewership estimates. Apple has opted not to subscribe to Nielsen measurement for its sports properties. Instead, viewership data will likely be released selectively at the discretion of league executives, similar to how MLS commissioner Don Garber has approached the matter.
So, going into this new Apple partnership, F1 viewership is riding a high wave, achieving record levels as measured by Nielsen and proving competitive with its domestic motorsports counterparts. But will this success continue under Apple's veil of secrecy? That's the question on everyone's mind. What do you think? Will F1's viewership continue to climb on Apple TV, or will the lack of transparency hinder its growth? Share your predictions and thoughts in the comments below!
