Formula 1 Viewership Growth in 2025
F1, in comparison to sports like football and tennis, may not have what it takes to attract classic fans, but it undoubtedly has incredible races designed to generate adrenaline. In 2021, the general audience reached its peak, hitting 1.5 billion views total. The COVID period surely helps boost fans across the globe, but it’s not the end of its marketing success.
According to the official Formula 1 website for 2025, overall views are up to 23% compared to the previous 2024 season in the US, and the F1 YouTube channel increased views to 30%. Why so high and fruitful? Partly it’s connected to the new Apple movie release with Brad Pitt in the leading role.
Commercial Success of the Show and the Movie
In 2019, Netflix and F1 agreed to broadcast a special show, named Drive to Survive, based on the current season of races, with real drama, people, and a somewhat authentic experience of each participant. If we dig into the Nielsen data, we could see that after watching this Netflix product, over 360.000 new viewers started watching F1 in 2022.
But despite that, over 3.1 million viewers watched with the Miami Grand Prix in 2024, dropping to 2.17 million a year after. Reuters even wrote an article about the dip in TV views for the F1 new season, but it was only a part of the story.
After the release of F1 The Movie in June, we saw a sparkling interest from fans and higher activity across the main social media platforms of the event. The film itself was a success and gathered more than $620 million. Even the female audience was up, and according to YoY stats, it is now up to 42% since 2018.
Returning to F1, twelve of fourteen races in 2025 showed year-over-year viewership growth on, ESPNhitting 3.9 million fan attendances. It is the highest mid-season for Formula 1 history.
Changes in Fan Demographics After the Show
Drive to Survive audiences are a bit different from traditional F1 viewers. Nielsen research clearly shows that new fans are 46% younger (34 and under versus 16% for existing fans), 69% earn $100,000+ compared to 49% of traditional viewers, and include 23% Hispanic viewers versus 12% in the established fanbase.
The US still holds leadership across the Global Fan Base (186 countries), and surprisingly, even the Chinese audience reached 221 million fans for the current year, including female viewers, which is currently 46% of all Chinese F1 fans.
In comparison to the previous year, ESPN reported a 14% growth in the 18-59 demographic, and interest rose to 5.7% from 2021 to 2024. As we can see, special collaboration with Netflix, Apple movie, and even the Schumacher documentary (2021) ignited the interest in F1.
F1 Wagering Market
At least 47% of American punters are interested in betting on F1. This is official YouGov data, which stated that over 23% of US citizens invested in the event and even consider themselves a fan of the sport.
28% of US fans of Formula 1 placed a bet in the last twelve months, the highest rate among racing fans. NASCAR fans only reach 21%. If we compare the offline and online sports betting markets, overall bettors clearly favor physical bookmakers (21% placed bets there), and only 17% did so online.
Max Verstappen is still the first in line when it comes to your best betting buddy in F1, despite winning only two races in the first half of 2025. Some of the punters also like to bet on Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc.
Talking about championship markets, we see activity with Oscar Piastri. He is currently leading the odds despite Lewis Hamilton moving to Ferrari. As always, McLaren holds the line to retain their 2024 Constructors’ Championship.
Where Fans Willing to Play
Sportsbooks report increased F1 volume during US race weekends in Miami, Las Vegas, and Austin. Americans still like to place their bets during prime race broadcasts.
In the UK, operators noted 18% growth in F1 bettors between 2021 and 2022 (according to Entain research). The most popular place to bet on is still non Gamstop betting sites, where you can get better odds on races and even watch streams or in-race event details in the bet manager. Mobile apps are still the best option to make it online, so the sportsbooks with clear UI and Apple/Android support win the competition for F1 fans.
If Formula 1 continues to grow closer to the film industry and incorporates new tactics in social engagement, it can lead to an even bigger boost in profit. The general trend is undeniable, the F1 movie was a success that drove more people to enjoy the sports, so keep it up!
