F1’s US boom continues with record viewership for Chinese Grand Prix

The 2025 Chinese Grand Prix is celebrating a new United States viewership record, with broadcaster ESPN boasting 824,000 viewers despite its early morning start. This follows the incredible growth the sport has seen in recent years, partly down to the highly competitive 2021 season, but also Netflix's Drive to Survive docuseries.

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri took his first win of the season at the Shanghai International Circuit in front of 220,000 onlookers - 10% more than the previous season. With a broadcast that peaked at 967,000 viewers, 31.6% up from last year, F1 is thriving.

This success in China sees both of the season's first Grands Prix break viewership records, with 1.11 million viewers watching the season-opening Australian Grand Prix. Compared to the 2024 season, the first two races have seen a 65% increase in viewership. 

Breaking down the demographics, 39% of those viewers fall between the valuable 18-49 bracket, a much larger percentage than most, if not all other forms of motorsport. And this is thanks to the aforementioned Drive to Survive, the series that opened up the sport to a whole new US market, a market that thrives on social media. 

Despite this performance, ESPN's contract with F1 is coming to an end at the following this season, with the sport looking elsewhere for its US broadcasting. Unsurprisingly, Netflix is reportedly a contender for the rights, as is NBC, with the former investing heavily into sports content recently.

Lando Norris, McLaren MCL39, George Russell, Mercedes F1 W16

Photo by: Getty Images

This success isn't just limited to television. Since 2018, F1 merchandise sales have increased by over 1,000%, with the United States being the biggest buyer, with Illinois, Arizona, and New York being the most F1-hungry states.

Miami will be home to the next race in the States, with the Dolphins stadium hosting on the 4 May weekend after a viewership of 3.1 million last year, yet another record. 

With three US races in total, F1's substantial growth on that side of the pond doesn't seem to be slowing down.