Lewis Hamilton made F1 great again as Sky announce spectacular viewing figures

Lewis Hamilton smiling at the 2026 Monaco Grand Prix — Photo: © IMAGO

Sky Sports F1

Lewis Hamilton made F1 great again as Sky announce spectacular viewing figures

Hamilton is the poster boy for Ferrari's F1 revival

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Thursday 18 June 2026 11:00

Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton has triggered a resurgence in interest from Italian F1 fans as Sky reports soaring viewing figures following the Barcelona Grand Prix.

At last weekend's event in Catalonia, Hamilton finally secured a grand prix victory for the first time since joining the Scuderia.

After a disappointing maiden campaign in red, the 41-year-old was able to usher in a new era of his career by standing on the top step of the grand prix podium in Spain, ending his 686-day win drought.

Article continues under video

When the 106-time grand prix winner crossed the finish line after 28 laps of domination last Sunday, he took to team radio to deliver his first words as the winner of the day in Italian.

"Ciao ragazzi, grazie a tutti a Maranello," said Hamilton in response to the warm congratulations from Carlo Santi, Hamilton's new race engineer who the ex-Mercedes star recently labelled as 'his Italian Bono'.

That message of thanks didn't just extend to Hamilton's Ferrari team in Maranello, but also his legions of fans which appear to be growing exponentially in Italy.

Hamilton victory sees Sky numbers soar

There hasn't been an Italian driver at Ferrari since Giancarlo Fisichella drove the red machinery at the last five races of the 2009 campaign to cover for an injured Felipe Massa.

Additionally, current championship leader Kimi Antonelli is the first Italian to compete in the sport at all since Antonio Giovinazzi, who had a full-time seat between 2019 and 2021.

This has led to a phenomenon where Italian fans have chosen the red team over the few countrymen who have competed in F1, with Ferrari seeing more success as an outfit across the last few decades than any Italian individual.

But the tifosi aren't picky and will still throw the same amount of passion behind anyone who drives for the Scuderia, especially a champion like Hamilton.

Following the 41-year-old's return to winning ways in Barcelona last weekend, Tuttosport have reported that Sky Italia have set a new viewing record, the highest since 2024.

Over 1,635,000 average viewers tuned in to witness Hamilton’s first victory with Ferrari in Barcelona on Sky through the live broadcast on Sky Sports F1, Sky Sport Uno and Sky Sport 4K, an increase of 41 per cent for the same race weekend in 2025.

Thanks to Hamilton, the seventh round of the championship has become the most-watched grand prix on Sky in Italy since 2024, which is funnily enough the same year that Ferrari last won a grand prix thanks to Carlos Sainz’s victory in Mexico.

The delayed broadcast on free-to-air channel TV8 was also a huge success, with Hamilton's impressive race pulling in an average of 1,405,000 viewers with a 14 per cent TV share.

Significant figures were also recorded on Sky's digital platforms, with the Sky Sport website registering 620,000 unique users, 4.6 million page views and one million video views, whilst Sky Sport and Sky Sport F1’s social media channels also generated 2.6 million interactions and 27 million video views from Hamilton's success in Barcelona.