Formula 1 Viewership Surges in 2021 Season

This past weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix was filled with suspense and chaos after an early crash threw the race into disarray.

The rivalry between Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull driver Max Verstappen received the bulk of attention heading into the event, but it was Alpine’s Esteban Ocon who wound up taking first place for the first Formula 1 win of his career.

Viewership for this season’s first nine races has grown by 36% compared to the 2019 season. Revenue spiked to $180 million in Q1 2021, up from $39 million during the same period last year. 

Since acquiring F1 for $4.6 billion in 2017, Liberty Media’s shares are up more than 113%.

Ian Holmes, director of media rights and content creation for F1, credits Netflix’s “Drive to Survive” with the recent surge in interest.

In 2020, the league saw a 99% increase in engagements across Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube — the largest jump for any professional sports entity that year.

The past several months have been filled with massive reveals for Formula 1:

• June 29: announced a five-year, $100 million global partnership with crypto.com
• April 19: finalized a 10-year deal to race in Miami and the Hard Rock Stadium
• March 4: Aston Martin returned to the league after a 61-year absence

The season continues with the Belgian Grand Prix at the end of August. Lewis Hamilton leads all drivers with 192 points going into it.