Formula 1 has more spectators again

The 2021 Formula 1 season was probably the most exciting of the last ten years. After Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen went head-to-head over 22 grands prix, Verstappen prevailed through a contentious situation in the final race of the season to win his first world title.

The hunt for points between the two opponents also made an impression on the TV audience. As the graphic based on Formula 1 data shows, the motorsport fan community grew by around 12 million people last year. The number of unique viewers, as individuals who followed at least one race of the season, was around 445 million in 2021. The strongest growth markets were China, Spain and Russia.

Formula 1 attracts four percent more viewers to the TV

A total of 1.55 billion people saw the Grands Prix in 2021 – around four percent more than in the previous year. The final in Abu Dhabi achieved the highest ratings with around 108.7 million viewers and an increase of around 29 percent compared to the previous year’s quota. The Dutch market experienced the biggest increase (+81 percent), thanks to their first world champion Max Verstappen.

With the dominance of Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton, a certain monotony and lack of tension had returned to Formula 1 in recent years, and the 2021 season was able to slow down the decline in spectators.

Formula 1 saw its last major increase in new viewers in 2018, after Liberty Media’s acquisition of the Formula 1 Group was fully completed and the US company invested heavily in marketing the racing series. The glossy Neflix documentary “Dive to survive” should also have played its part in ensuring that Formula 1 is again looking optimistically to the future. The fourth season is currently running.