Overview
- ESPN averaged 1.3 million viewers per race in 2025, with the Abu Dhabi finale drawing a record 1.5 million.
- Sixteen of 24 races set ESPN viewership records as 21 events rose year over year, capped by Lando Norris winning the drivers’ title and McLaren the constructors’ crown.
- ESPN credits Netflix’s Drive to Survive for long-term gains, while Nielsen’s expanded out-of-home metrics and Big Data + Panel methodology complicate direct comparisons to prior years.
- Beginning in 2026, U.S. coverage moves exclusively to Apple TV under a five-year deal reported to outpace ESPN’s payments.
- Confirmed 2026 changes include lighter cars, redesigned power units, smaller tires, and a $215 million budget cap, while Cadillac joins as an 11th team with Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Pérez, Audi runs its own engine after taking Sauber, and Red Bull debuts an in-house power unit as the grid expands to six suppliers.