2025 United States GP draws record TV audience as Max Verstappen wins at COTA

The 2025 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix attracted the largest TV audience in the history of the event.

The race at the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas, resulted in four-time champion Max Verstappen celebrating on the top step of the podium as he closed the gap to his championship rivals, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, in the standings. In addition to his grand prix victory, the Dutchman also took the victory in the sprint race.

McLaren's Norris and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc followed Verstappen over the line to finish the grand prix in second and third, while Mercedes' George Russell and Williams's Carlos Sainz finished the sprint race in second and third positions.

A report from ESPN stated that the grand prix recorded an average of 1.5 million viewers, an increase of 14% from the 2024 United States Grand Prix. Viewership peaked at 1.6 million from 4.15-4.30 pm.

Read also :

Verstappen's win took him to just 40 points behind championship leader Piastri and 26 points behind Norris, who currently sits in second with just five race weekends to go.

"It was an unbelievable weekend for us. I knew that the race was, of course, not going to be super straightforward. I think if you look at the whole race, the pace between myself and Lando was really close," Verstappen said after the race.

Atmosphere

Photo by: Andy Hone/ LAT Images via Getty Images

"That's what made the difference. I could eke out a little bit of a gap, and that's basically what we kept until the end, wasn't easy to manage the tyres on both with the stints, but we kept it in the lead and just incredibly proud of everyone to deliver a weekend like this."

Discussing the possibility of securing a fifth consecutive championship title, the Red Bull driver added: "Yeah, for sure the chance is there. We just need to try and deliver these kinds of weekends now until the end. We'll just try whatever we can. I think it is exciting, and I'm just very excited to the end."

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

Take our 5 minute survey.

- The Motorsport.com Team