ESPN wrapped up its final Formula 1 season on a high note, shattering U.S. television records with an average of 1.3 million viewers per race across its 24 events on ESPN, ESPN2, and ABC. The network announced the milestone Wednesday, highlighting a 135% surge from its 2018 debut average of 554,000 viewers.
The season finale in Abu Dhabi drew 1.5 million viewers, peaking at 1.8 million, as Max Verstappen claimed his fourth title with a win and Lando Norris secured his first championship in third place.
How will F1 fare when it moves to Apple TV in 2026?
Nick Bromberg for Yahoo Sports:
F1 is now consistently the second-most watched motorsport in the United States behind NASCAR’s Cup Series. And the size of the series’ TV audiences are getting closer and closer. NASCAR’s championship race at Phoenix — which started at 3 p.m. ET on Nov. 2, averaged 2.78 million viewers. The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix started at 8 a.m. ET.
Cup Series viewership declined 14% in 2025 as a handful of races were held on Amazon Prime for the first time. In 2018, NASCAR’s season finale at Homestead averaged 4.15 million viewers. And that number was down 32% from the audience that watched the finale in 2016.
But F1 now runs the risk of seeing its viewership drop like NASCAR’s in 2026 and beyond. The series’ broadcast rights are heading to Apple TV, as Apple outbid ESPN and others. The five-year deal is worth $140 million per year. ESPN was paying approximately $85 million per season and has a much wider audience base than Apple does.
Its reach is a fraction of ESPN’s. And that’s been evident with the disaster that was MLS Season Pass. Apple obtained the exclusive rights to every MLS broadcast and charged an extra fee starting in 2023. The package never took off and Apple announced at the end of the 2025 season that MLS games would be shown to anyone with a basic Apple TV subscription.
F1 races will also not have an extra fee attached, and Apple TV subscribers will also get access to F1 TV, the series’ app that allows fans to watch in-car cameras from every driver in the field along with live timing and scoring.
However, it’s a near certainty that viewership will drop for F1 in 2026. But by just how much?
MacDailyNews Take: Formula 1 will be just fine – and so will Apple TV.
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