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The 2022 Formula One season is officially over now that tire testing in Abu Dhabi is complete, and this year’s battle was a record-breaker in more ways than one.
As many fans know, Max Verstappen made F1 history this year with 15 wins and recorded the most points in a single season in the sport’s history. Red Bull snagged its first constructors’ title since 2013, Ferrari took vice-champion in both standings with Charles Leclerc taking second place in the drivers’ championship and Sebastian Vettel said goodbye to F1. The drama and action clearly kept fans engaged, drawing record-breaking television viewership audiences in the United States.
F1 saw a 28% increase in U.S. viewership over last season, with an average of 1.21 million people watching per race, according to ESPN. This breaks the previous record, set in 2021. F1 has been broadcast under the ESPN umbrella (ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC) since 2018, and the parties recently agreed to a contract extension through 2025.
Seventeen of the 22 races drew an average of at least one million viewers this season. A record 2.538 million average viewers tuned in for the inaugural Miami Grand Prix in May, which became the most-viewed live F1 telecast for stateside viewers. Eleven other races also set viewership records:
- Bahrain Grand Prix—1.353 million average viewers (winner: Charles Leclerc)
- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix—1.445 million (winner: Max Verstappen)
- Spanish Grand Prix—1.146 million, “largest live version” (Max Verstappen)
- British Grand Prix—1.239 million (winner: Carlos Sainz)
- Austrian Grand Prix—1.066 million (winner: Charles Leclerc)
- Hungarian Grand Prix—1.249 million (winner: Max Verstappen)
- Belgian Grand Prix—1.047 million (winner: Max Verstappen)
- Dutch Grand Prix—1.148 million (winner: Max Verstappen)
- Italian Grand Prix—995,000, “largest live version” (winner: Max Verstappen)
- Singapore Grand Prix—1.036 million (winner: Sergio Pérez)
- São Paulo Grand Prix—1.401 million, largest live version (winner: George Russell)
According to ESPN, women viewers increased 34% over 2021 to an average of 352,000, making up an average of 28% of this year’s audience.
The Japanese Grand Prix, which was plagued by rain and a lengthy red flag, was not factored in to this year’s averages.
