Airing in a window that usually belongs to the NBA Playoffs, the debut of the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix delivered a record live audience.
Sunday’s F1 Miami GP averaged a 1.3 rating and 2.58 million viewers on ABC, marking the largest live F1 audience ever on U.S. television and the second-largest F1 audience overall. Taped coverage of the 2002 Monaco Grand Prix on ABC holds the top spot (2.78M). Two of the ten most-watched F1 races have come this season alone, with the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix ranking tenth (1.45M).
Including a 90-minute prerace show, ABC averaged a 1.1 and 2.07 million for its coverage.
Compared to the annual United States Grand Prix from Austin, Texas, the Miami GP more-than-doubled the audience of last year’s race (1.23M) and nearly doubled the all-time record of 1.37 million. Keep in mind the USGP traditionally airs on an NFL Sunday.
The F1 season is now averaging 1.4 million viewers across ESPN/ABC, up 53% from the first five races last year (922K).
Max Verstappen’s win, which peaked with 2.9 million from 4:45-5 PM ET, aired in the Sunday afternoon ABC window that usually belongs to the NBA. Ratings and viewership fell well short of what would typically be expected for an NBA playoff game in that window; the previous Sunday afternoon, ABC drew a 3.0 and 5.37 million for Bucks-Celtics and a 4.4 and 7.71 million for Grizzlies-Warriors.
With F1 on ABC, Sunday afternoon’s NBA coverage aired on ESPN. The NBA game (Suns-Mavericks) easily won the head-to-head with a 2.2 and 4.36 million.
Head-to-head, ratings and viewership were slightly below the competing NASCAR Cup Series race from Darlington on FS1 (1.45, 2.61M). F1 won the head-to-head easily in adults 18-49 (735K to 517K).
Host market Miami led all markets with a 3.7 rating, followed by nearby West Palm Beach (2.4). Atlanta was the top non-Florida market at a 1.8, followed by West Coast markets Los Angeles and San Francisco at a 1.6.
Beyond the race itself, Saturday’s qualifying session averaged 953,000 on ESPN and a Friday practice session pulled 398,000 on ESPN2 — the most-watched qualifying and practice sessions since F1 returned to ESPN in 2018.
Most-watched F1 races on U.S. television
UPDATE 5/10: Post updated with figures for the race portion of the ABC telecast.
[Nielsen estimates from ShowBuzz Daily 5.10]
