Miami draws record TV audience for F1 in the United States

A record United States television audience for a Formula 1 race tuned in to watch Lando Norris’ maiden victory in the Miami Grand Prix on Sunday.

ESPN has announced that the race on ABC drew an average of 3.1 million viewers for the grand prix, with viewership peaking at 3.6 million. That race-only average was comfortably more than the previous record of 2.6 million set by the inaugural Miami Grand Prix on the same channel in 2022.

With last year’s grand prix also attracting a 2.1 million average, Miami can boast the top three live US television audiences for races in F1 history.

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That is a statistic helped not only by the broadcast being on ABC, but also the timezone as the first North American race of the year – compared to Austin in October and the Las Vegas race taking place late on a Saturday night in November – and also an early slot in the calendar, when there is greater uncertainty around the championship outcome.

Norris beat defending champion Max Verstappen to secure the first F1 victory of his career, starting from fifth but moving into the lead prior to a Safety Car period that allowed him to pit and stay ahead of Verstappen, pulling away to win by over seven seconds.

As a Sprint event for the first time, Miami also set another record with the 946,000 average that tuned in on ESPN for the Sprint on Saturday lunchtime – won by Verstappen – marking the largest audience for the shorter race since the format was introduced in 2021. The previous record had been Azerbaijan last year, when 883,000 watched.

The next round in Imola will be broadcast on ESPN2 as F1 returns to Europe, with lights out at 9am E.T on Sunday 19 May.