ESPN reports massive viewer numbers for F1 Australian Grand Prix

The 2025 Formula 1 season is off to a fascinating start, both on and off the track.

Lando Norris held off Max Verstappen and the elements to take the win in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix. That victory broke Verstappen’s reign atop the Drivers’ Championship standings, dating back to the 2022 Spanish Grand Prix.

As the grid heads to Shanghai for this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix, the second race of a season-opening doubleheader, ESPN is reporting massive numbers for the Australian Grand Prix. According to the network, an average of 1.1 million viewers tuned into the race, the largest ever for an Australian Grand Prix on ESPN. The previous record was 659,000 back during the 2019 season.

In addition, ESPN reported this is an increase over the 541,000 that tuned in last season, when the race aired on ESPN2.

The 2025 Australian Grand Prix also began at midnight on the East Coast, similar to last season.

These ratings come at a fascinating time, as ESPN’s broadcast rights to F1 in the United States expire at the end of the season, opening the door to another network — or potentially a streaming service — to move in. This was a topic at a recent earnings call from Formula One’s ownership group. When the topic of ESPN’s media rights was addressed Stefano Domenicali, F1’s President and CEO, noted that ESPN is still firmly in the discussions for 2026 and beyond.

“We need to be thankful for what ESPN is providing to us. We are very happy about the quality of the service. We need to always remember that they were first to believe in our project,” began Domenicali.

“So therefore, the fact that at the end of the exclusivity period, they have not put in place a formal offer, it doesn’t mean that the discussions are going ahead. Actually, it’s the other way around. So there are still a lot of discussions to try to find the best solution. And of course, now, as we always said, is the month where other players are around the table. And we cannot deny the fact that there is a lot of interest around our product,” continued Domenicali. “We are fortunate enough to have compelling content and a growing fan base and a strong demand for different situations from various parties.”

Derek Chang, the President and CEO of Liberty Media Corporation — F1’s ownership group — also addressed ESPN’s media rights on the call.

“I think also to use an F1 analogy, it’s going to be a fast race and we’re going to move pretty quickly hopefully to come to conclusion as we get to the end of the middle of the year and the later part of the year,” began Chang. “And just to echo one thing that Stefano said, a lot of times the people on the outside tend to frame these things as, ‘oh, ESPN said they didn’t want the F1 rights going forward,’ and it’s a very, again, soundbite way to describe a relationship.

“But it’s actually been quite a productive and constructive relationship and I personally have had a long-term relationship with ESPN. F1 has had a great relationship with ESPN and we’ll continue to see how these conversations unfold,” concluded Chang.

The initial ratings for the season-opening race will certainly be a top of discussion going forward.