F1 has never been more popular - here are the numbers that prove it

F1's exciting three-way title battle encapsulated fans around the world in 2025, with the US in particular seeing record-breaking numbers.

Lando Norris ultimately came out on top at the last race of the season in an exciting finale, with the Brit beating four-time world champion Max Verstappen and team-mate Oscar Piastri to championship success.

McLaren also claimed the constructors' championship, marking their first championship double since the 1998 season.

It was arguably the best season of F1 since the 2021 season, which saw Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton fight all season long for the drivers' title.

Indeed, the Abu Dhabi GP was the first time since 2021 that we have not known who would be champion heading into the final race, and the first time since 2010 that more than two drivers could still win at the final weekend.

Now, viewing figures released from ESPN show that it was F1's most popular year in terms of viewership since F1 returned to ESPN networks back in 2018.

An average of 1.3 million people tuned in for each grand prix throughout 2025, an increase in the average of 135 per cent compared to the 2018 season, the first year of the ESPN-F1 agreement.

After a previous high of 1.2 million in 2022, the averages had dropped slightly for the 2023 and 2024 season, down to 1.1 million, but this new figure is an all-time record for the broadcaster showing F1.

That average was boosted by the season-ending Abu Dhabi GP, for which ESPN have claimed 1.5 million people tuned in for across ESPN networks.

NASCAR viewership falls

While F1 viewership is on the up in the US, the viewing figures of their historically chief motorsport series the NASCAR Cup Series fell in 2025.

NASCAR signed a new $7.7bn TV rights deal in 2024, which is due to run through 2025-2031.

However, as part of this deal, a number of Cup Series races were shown on the USA Network channel rather than any of the big hitters in US sports like NBC, CBS or ESPN.

This partly led to a fall in viewership figures of the series, with a 15 per cent drop in 2025 compared with the 2024 season.

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