ESPN sets all-time US F1 viewership record in final season before Apple TV switch

ESPN closed the final season of its coverage of Formula 1 in the United States with an all-time viewership record.

The broadcaster has revealed that it experienced an average of 1.3 million viewers across ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC for each race in 2025.

The 2025 season featured a tense intra-team battle between McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. A late surge from Red Bull's Max Verstappen added to the excitement at the end of the season, with the drivers' championship coming down to the wire at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. While the Red Bull driver took the final victory of the year, Norris's third-place finish at the Yas Marina Circuit was enough to clinch his first drivers' title.

For ESPN, the tense season finale in Abu Dhabi brought in an average of 1.5 million viewers, peaking at 1.8 million, according to Nielsen Big Data + Panel data.

Average ESPN race viewership per F1 season

2018 – 554,0002019 – 672,0002020 – 608,0002021 – 948,0002022 – 1.21 million2023 – 1.1 million2024 – 1.1 million2025 – 1.3 million

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It was announced in October 2025 that F1 had signed a new US broadcasting rights deal, which would see the coverage move in the United States to Apple TV from 2026.

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images

The Disney-owned broadcaster had held the broadcasting rights to F1 in the US since 2018 and also had a stint of broadcasting the championship from 1984 to 1997.

"We’re incredibly proud of what we and Formula 1 accomplished together in the United States and look forward to a strong finish in this final season. We wish F1 well in the future," a statement from ESPN read at the time.

F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali added: "I think that our duty is to look into the future and try to make sure that F1 can have the right platform of developing our growth. And therefore I really want to thank ESPN for what they did today together, because they invested in us when no one was really ready to invest in us many, many years ago."

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