Nielsen figures reveal F1’s 2025 season attracted 1.83 billion viewers, marking a 6.8% increase year-on-year
Ahead of the 2026 season start this week, Nielsen has released viewership figures for last year’s F1 season showing it recorded its largest total audience in five years.
F1 2025 season viewership highlights:
- Total cumulative audience of 1.83 billion (+6.8% vs 2024)
- 76.1 million average audience per Grand Prix (excl. YouTube) - highest since 2020
- Race Live audiences up +19.8%, Qualifying Live +22.8%, Practice Live +24.9%
Five years ago, the majority of Formula 1’s audience watched linear TV broadcasters, but that is no longer the case, says Nielsen.
While linear broadcasters still account for over three-quarters of total audience, the share delivered by OTT has nearly doubled since 2020.
OTT (and non-metered channels) now account for more than half of all programmes broadcast, though they contribute a smaller proportion of total audience.
Since 2020, the average number of dedicated Formula 1 programmes per Grand Prix has increased by over 45%, even before factoring in Sprint weekends.
The introduction of Sprint Rounds, now at six Grands Prix per season, adds further broadcast sessions.
Meanwhile, the average amount of time sponsors are visible during F1 race weekends has increased by over 90% since 2020. In the 2025 season, almost 600 different brands had exposures during an F1 broadcast, highlighting the sports platform for exposure globally.
Andy Milnes, Nielsen market lead for sports in UK&I, said: “Formula 1 delivered the largest audience in five years. Data also highlights that modern sports valuation is no longer simply about reach. It is about harmonising feeds, platforms, formats and exposure density in a way that ensures global totals are both accurate and commercially meaningful. In a fragmented media environment, scale remains powerful, but only when it can be measured with precision.”
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