After drafting off of an NBA Game 7 lead-in last year, the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix fell back to the pack this year.
Sunday’s Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix averaged 2.17 million viewers on ABC, down 29% from last year’s record audience of 3.07 million, when the race aired immediately following an NBA playoff Game 7. This year race had no NBA lead-in. Figures exclude 90 minutes pre-race coverage.
Oscar Piastri’s win, which peaked with 2.4 million viewers, still delivered the third-largest live F1 audience ever on U.S. television — trailing only last year and the inaugural Miami GP in 2022 (2.58M). The four editions of the Miami GP rank as the four most-watched.
Unlike last year, the Miami GP was not the most-watched motorsports event of the weekend. The race trailed the competing NASCAR Cup Series race from Texas, which drew 2.56 million on FS1. As one would reasonably expect, it easily outdrew IndyCar racing on FOX (914K).
The Miami GP has aired on ABC in all four years of its existence, preempting the network’s usual NBA playoff coverage each time. The decision to air F1 over the NBA likely cost ABC around five or six million viewers; Lakers-Timberwolves Game 4 averaged 7.35 million in the same window a week earlier, and that figure would likely have been surpassed by Warriors-Rockets Game 7. Instead, that game aired on TNT and averaged 6.63 million.
It is unclear where the race will air next year, as ESPN is in the final year of its contract and reportedly uninterested in renewing its contract for the $150-180 million/year F1 is said to be seeking — twice the current contract of $90 million/year. The price tag is also believed to be deterring challengers, including Netflix.
Regardless of where F1 ends up airing, the Miami GP will remain part of the schedule for many years to come. F1 last week extended its contract with the race an additional decade from 2031 to 2041.
