Formula One continues to break new ground in the United States, with last weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix averaging 1.1 million viewers on ESPN, the 11th event record of the 2025 season for the Disney-owned broadcaster.
It marked the first time the race has ever surpassed the one-million-viewer threshold in the United States.
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The audience represented a 27.2 per cent year-over-year increase, the largest gain for ESPN since the Belgian Grand Prix, which climbed 27.3 per cent in 2024.
In 2024, the Azerbaijan Grand Prix was one of nine races to fall short of one million viewers on ESPN. This year, however, only two races have missed that mark, putting Formula One firmly on course for its strongest U.S season on record.
Through 17 races, Formula One is averaging 1.33 million viewers, comfortably ahead of its previous benchmark of 1.18 million at the same stage last year. The 2024 season closed with an average of 1.13 million.
The sport’s upward trajectory contrasts sharply with Nascar, which saw its latest playoff race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway average just 1.29 million viewers on USA Network, its lowest audience of the season.
That marked the first time in NASCAR’s (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) broadcast history that four straight races have drawn under two million viewers.
Notably, the gap between Formula One and NASCAR in the US is narrowing, with only 190,000 viewers separating the two series last weekend — the closest margin of the year.
