The number of Formula 1 fans continued to rise in 2025, from TV viewers to spectators in the grandstands, alongside major commercial agreements with leading global brands.
In the 75th season of Formula 1 history, records were broken across multiple areas, from on-track achievements to financial milestones. Numerous fans of the Circus, which continues to establish itself as the fastest-growing sport globally, celebrated Lando Norris’ first career world championship victory, marking a moment of triumph witnessed by an increasingly international audience.
Growing fanbase
F1’s strategy of diversifying its audience has produced unprecedented results: official data shows that the total number of fans reached 827 million, a 12% increase year-on-year, surpassing the NBA and establishing F1 as the international championship with the largest fanbase. This growth is largely driven by younger audiences, with 43% of fans under the age of 35. Remarkably, 57% of all new fans in 2025 fall into this age group.
Female viewership also experienced significant growth, representing 42% of the total audience (up from 37% in 2018) and nearly half of all new fans last season at 48%. The countries with the highest growth include the United States, which now has 52 million fans (+11 million year-on-year), in a nation hosting F1 at multiple events, including Miami, Austin, and Las Vegas.
Box office success
F1 also set records in television broadcasting and entertainment. In the United States, Formula 1 reached a major deal with Apple TV, which will exclusively broadcast race weekends from 2026 to 2030. Additionally, the success of ‘F1 – The Movie’ was unprecedented: with a global box office of $631 million ($5 million in Italy), it became the highest-grossing sports film of all time and the most successful movie featuring Brad Pitt. For the fifth consecutive year, F1 confirmed its strong growth on social media platforms: TikTok (+91%) and YouTube (+53%). With 2.3 billion interactions, the Circus surpassed major leagues such as the NBA, NFL, and Premier League.
Beyond television
The number of spectators attending races in person also reached a new record, with total attendance rising to 6.7 million (up from 6.5 million in 2024), thanks in part to sell-outs at 19 of the 24 races. Formula 1 is preparing for its first-ever race in Madrid in 2026, while agreements with other circuits were also finalized: Miami and Montreal will remain on the calendar until 2041 and 2035 respectively, and the Portuguese Grand Prix will return to the schedule in 2027-2028.
New sponsorships
Finally, F1’s sponsorship portfolio expanded into new market segments. The most notable agreement was with LVMH, including a decade-long partnership with luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton, TAG Heuer, and Moët Hennessy. With additional partners including LEGO, American Express, Sony Electronics, KitKat, and Santander, the number of commercial partners has tripled since 2020.
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