Formula 1 records 1.55 billion viewers in 2021

The 2021 Formula One season, which wrapped up in controversial fashion, was watched by more than 1.5 billion viewers around the world, the league has said.

Revealing its viewership and attendance statistics for the season, the F1 said that the cumulative TV audience for 2021 was 1.55 billion, up 4% from 2020.

The most-watched race was the season finale in Abu Dhabi, which was watched by 108.7 million viewers. This was followed by Bahrain (84.5 million) and the 3 Sprint weekend events at Silverstone (79.5m), Monza (80.4m) and Sao Paulo (82.1m).

The average audience per Grand Prix in 2021 was 70.3m. In markets where like-for-like broadcasting arrangements were maintained across 2020 and 2021, the figure was 60.3 million, up 13% YoY.

Viewing figures were down in Brazil and Germany, where new broadcast agreements were in place, but there were significant gains in The Netherlands (+81% YoY), the USA (+58% YoY), France (+48% YoY), Italy (+40% YoY) and the UK (+39% YoY).

In total, the F1 said there were 445 million unique viewers for the competition in 2021, up 3% YoY. China dominated this category, with 70.8 million unique viewers, up 13% YoY.

Elsewhere, F1 said that it was the fastest growing major sports league on the planet in terms of follower growth in 2021 with 49.1 million followers across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Tiktok, Snapchat, Twitch and Chinese social platforms. 

Stefano Domenicali, president and CEO, Formula 1, said: “The 2021 season was something very special. We had a championship battle that went to the last race with huge excitement throughout the whole championship. 

“We have also seen some very strong figures across broadcast and our digital platforms, showing once again the momentum, excitement and interest that is all around Formula 1. We are looking forward to our record breaking 23 race season this year, with new cars, new regulations, and a new challenge for all the teams and drivers. I know all of our fans can’t wait to get the season started.”