F1 TV record set in United States after Miami Grand Prix

Lando Norris’ first victory in F1 on Sunday saw the sport set a new average audience television record in the US

Lando Norris’ victory in Sunday’s Miami Grand Prix set a new Formula 1 audience record in the United States.

According to figures released this week, Sunday’s race attracted an average audience of 3.1 million viewers on ABC – beating the previous record of 2.6 million from the debut event in Miami two years ago – and peaking at 3.6 million.

The figure was a 48% increase on last year’s event, while all three Miami races have attracted more eyeballs stateside than any American F1 race in history.

Saturday’s sprint race drew in 946,000 viewers, with grand prix qualifying’s audience at 625,000.

The race also drew a record 275,000 spectators, up 5,000 from 2023 and up from 230,000 in 2022.

F1 has increased its following in the US over the last few years, as a result of the success of Netflix’s Drive to Survive docu-series as well as the three US races that now have a space in the calendar (Austin and Las Vegas alongside Miami).

F1 also announced over the course of the weekend that the sport was the fastest-growing major sports league on social media for the fourth year in a row, reaching 70 million social media followers.

Daniel Ricciardo, who picked up his first points of the season in the Saturday sprint, compared the whole event to the mega build-up to the Super Bowl.

Lando Norris’ win in Miami set a new TV audience record in the United States (Getty Images)

“It feels like, and I’m not trying to say it’s the Super Bowl, but the Super Bowl week,” the Australian said.

“It’s like a whole week of things. I feel our weeks have built out now, not to the extent of a Super Bowl week, but it’s getting there with events and people are interested.

“It’s from a Wednesday onwards and it’s not just the Sunday that they’re excited for the race. We had a really good crowd, a lot of young people I feel, and a lot of new audience coming in. So it’s good to grow the sport for sure.”

F1 heads to Europe next week for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola before the glitz and glamour of the Monaco Grand Prix a week later.