Formula One brought the glitz and the glam to the inaugural Miami Grand Prix, and it seemed to pay off, at least by the record-breaking attendance and viewership numbers.
ESPN announced that Sunday’s live telecast recorded an average of 2.6 million U.S. viewers, the largest audience for a live F1 race broadcast on American television. It peaked at 2.9 million viewers from 4:45 p.m. and 5 p.m. ET., and for the age group 18-49, the race averaged 735,000 fans watching as Max Verstappen navigated his way to victory. The race aired from 3:30 p.m. to 5:36 p.m. ET, and ABC’s full telecast (including the 90-minute Grand Prix Sunday pre-race show) averaged 2.1 million viewers.
The previous record for a live race telecast was the 1995 Brazilian Grand Prix on ESPN, which attracted 1.744 million viewers in the U.S..
The interest in the inaugural Grand Prix was evident as the buzz continued to grow in the months and weeks leading up to the weekend. But the record-breaking numbers extended beyond just television viewers on race day.
For Saturday’s qualifying, 953,000 viewers tuned in, marking the highest qualifying viewership numbers since the sport returned to ESPN in 2018. Additionally, Friday’s first practice brought in 398,000 viewers, another record since 2018.
Hard Rock Stadium saw 242,955 fans come through over the three days with a record 85,280 on race day, per the race’s official Instagram page.
The Miami Grand Prix, however, was not the most viewed F1 telecast in history. According to ESPN, that record is still held by ABC’s broadcast of the 2002 Monaco Grand Prix, which was shown the same day but was a delayed presentation. It averaged 2.784 million viewers.
Formula One is now headed to Barcelona for the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday, May 22, airing at 9 a.m. ET. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc leads the driver standings by a narrow 19 points over Red Bull’s Verstappen.
