F1 is popular!

In some respects, 2019 was a record year for Formula 1, which achieved very good audience figures. With 1.9 billion viewers, the cumulative audience has never been so strong and for the third consecutive year, it has continued to increase.

The largest number of viewers is in Brazil, Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom, and finally the Netherlands, where nearly 100 million viewers can be counted across all Grand Prix races. Thanks to Robert Kubica’s return to Williams, Poland increased its number of viewers by 3.5 million, bringing the total to 8 million.

Out of the 21 Grand Prix of the season, 19 achieved better viewership numbers than in 2018. With 112 million viewers, the Italian Grand Prix was the most-watched race of the season and also the most-watched since the Mexican Grand Prix in 2016. Monza was not the only Grand Prix to surpass the symbolic mark of 100 million viewers. In fact, Monaco, Germany, and Brazil also achieved this feat.

Of the 500 million fans worldwide, those who have joined in the last two years are 62% aged 35 or younger. 24.9 million fans follow F1 on various social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. This represents a 32.9% increase in followers compared to 2018. This strong growth in social media followers allows Formula 1 to be the major sport with the best growth on social networks.

These figures highlight the rise in popularity of Formula 1, especially among younger audiences who are Liberty Media’s main target. With the increasing presence of F1 on social media, the creation of F1 Esports, and a partnership with Netflix, the premier category of motorsport has successfully attracted new fans by modernizing itself.