Formula One has for years wanted to ‘crack America’ in the words of ex-F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone. The sport in the USA has been the poor relative to NASCAR and North America’s premier single seat racing series, Indycar, with its epic season blue ribbon event held in May at the Indianapolis speedway.
Yet times are a changing and this writer even tonight was accosted by a fan in the US who spotted me wearing and F1 sweatshirt and proceeded with an in depth conversation about the current drivers and their futures in the sport. It transpired he was an avid TJ13 reader and his knowledge of the technicality of the sport was on par with a seasoned European.
There has been persistent chatter about a fourth US race in the near future and why not when considering the middle east with little interest in motorsport currently has four Grand Prix weekends? Of course the Arab nations on the whole are using sport as a whole to promote tourism in their countries whose reliance on oil for their wealth is heading for an economic Armageddon. Desperate times lead to desperate measures and the Arabs pay a massive premium for their right to host an F1 event.
Us TV audience 7% of total
Yet sometimes, more is less and less is more and despite the futile visions of F1 cars racing up 5th Avenue and into Central Park being revived from time to time, three races in the USA appears to be considered sufficient amongst paddock aficionados.
Statistics cite the US had 52 million F1 fans in 2024, a significant number by anyones count, but then by way on comparison, Google analytics reveal that TJ13 has itself some 35 million viewers per annum. The F1 count of US and total viewers of the sport is of course total eyeballs across the entire season and on this basis F1 has a global audience now of 826 million.
There was a phenomenal growth in 2024 of around 90 million from the 2023 season which saw Red Bull and Max Verstappen sweep all before them in a record breaking year, never before seen in the history of the sport. The team from Milton Keynes won 23 of the 24 Grand Prix, with the RB19 becoming the greatest F1 car ever built.
Nevertheless, the fans came back last year inn their droves, bringing their mates and colleagues with them. But now with 24 race weekends on the calendar for the second year in a row, the 2025 F1 season is the joint ever longest schedule in F1 history. Yet no business wants to stand still and so the question is how does F1 grow even further, despite being the most watched globally annually run sport each year.
F1 “Geographic expansion” required
Even the US owners of the rights to F1 have admitted that 24 races a year is the limit which can be delivered for a range of logistical and personal reasons and so a plan to further popularise the sport must be made in ways other than just more events.
Now in its 75th year of competition, F1 is setting its targets on an ever expanding global reach to deliver it growth for the future. On a the most recent episode of the Bloomberg podcast, McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown was quizzed on what he believes to be the secret for future growth in F1.
“What we’re doing is working, so let’s keep incrementally improving,” he said. “Let’s not change the game, because as a sport, we’re winning.” With the lowliest F1 team facing bankruptcy just a decade ago, now even Williams and Sauber are valued in the region of $1bn.
“We have 24 races now. We have demand for more. We can’t do more [than 24] in a year, so I’m a fan of, let’s go to 20 fixed Grands Prix and go to eight Grands Prix that rotate every other year,” he said. “So you can get some geographic expansion, but not on an annual basis, because these 24 races around the world… we can’t do 25 [race weekends a year].
“But at the same time, you don’t want to kind of not grow. I think if I look at North America, our TV ratings, if you compare it to the big leagues here, [there’s] a lot of room for growth,” Brown explained.
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NASCAR would love F1 audience
In the US, NACAR currently outscores F1 by 3-1 eyeballs on race weekends with a total annual viewership of 100 million. This is less than 10% of F1’s global reach but comparing US sports viewers like with like is clearly a fallacy. With 36 races a year, the comparison is loaded in NASCAR’s favour and on a like for like basis the stock car series has less than 10% of the viewers that F1 has globally.
“I don’t think we need more than three Grands Prix here [in the US]. I think we could have more than three Grands Prix, but that would come at the expense of getting into India, South Africa, Korea, or some other areas I think we need to expand into,” says Brown.
And its now just in terms of eyeballs that F1 is wining the race for motorsports domination, as Brown states: “Sponsorship is unbelievable — new brands coming in every day. The Googles, the Goldmans; these companies weren’t involved in Formula 1 historically, so it’s very healthy.
“We have the franchise value; [it’s] finally caught on. If you look at these MLB or NBA or NFL teams, Formula 1 teams are, you know — as a franchise owner, are all healthy.”
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This is not quite true, given the US sport’s leagues have way more competitors than the current ten in F1. So with most US sport’s franchises worth in excess of $1bn, in this aspect F1 has some way to go. Brown is somewhat optimistic of the new commercial drivers of F1 interest when he says: “So, let’s keep doing what we’re doing, but let’s keep making incremental gains. You know, Netflix was amazing for our sport. I think the Brad Pitt movie coming out in June will be awesome. I think that will turn a lot more people on to the sport.”
“And if you look at where the sport needed to grow from pre-Liberty acquiring it, we didn’t have the diversity that we needed, and we didn’t have the youth that we needed. We didn’t have North America, arguably if not the most important sports and commercial marketplace. We didn’t have as many women.
“And now you look at the audience — I just got stopped coming in here, and it’s women, it’s youth, it’s diversity, it’s North America, and you know, in New York.” Brown jokes about how he may be more famous now than headline US basketball players who were dismissive of who he was in a New York hotel.
He made a joke about them being in town for the tennis in the hotel lobby, something they failed to appreciate along with who he was. The players humoured him but as they joined their team mates in the lobby they were in for a surprise. “I’m walking out with them for the front door, and these three fans popped from this group. They go, can we get your autograph?” Brown regaled.
“And [the basketball players are] like, sorry — and they’re [the fans are] saying, ‘No, not you! [to the basketball players] – Mr. Brown, We love Formula 1!’ And these two guys looked at me like, who the hell is this guy? I mean, that was New York, right? New York was the last place in the world that was a Formula 1 city up until a few years ago.”
2026 flop a massive F1 risk
Whilst Drive to Survive has been a keen driver of F1 interest in the US, the series as all eventually do, is becoming jaded. F1 will need other and more cutting edge strategies to continue its growth in the fan market across the world., 2026 are dangerous times for the sport which has bitten off more than it can chew with the biggest change in history of the car and engine design regulations.
Record attendances are being seen around the world for F1 weekends, although this primarily affords the promoter a better contribution to the huge hosting fees F1 demand. At its present rate of growth by the end of 2026 the global reach will see $1bn F1 fans around the world watch the biggest – by some margin – motorsports racing series.
Yet the future growth of the sport remains mired in disputes amongst the teams and manufacturers and should 2026 become a flop, reality will set in quickly. No more decade long debates over power unit specifications will be allowed as the focus on ever improving competitive races MUST be the focus of attention for Formula One.
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The storm continues to brew over the impact the 2026 new power unit and chassis regulations will have on Formula One racing. With more than half a decade invested on behalf of the FIA to engage new engine manufacturers, one thing is clear, allowing the players to set the rules is never a good idea.
The original V6 hybrids which debuted in 2014 were intended to be replaced in 2021 but a combination of the FIA allowing the cart to lead the horse meant the varying self interests of the potential new manufacturers hindered the timelines set to introduce the net generation of F1 powertrains.
Of course the Covid-19 pandemic had an impact on the sport, most of all forcing the unwilling teams to agree to an annual spending limit. Terrified of several F1 competitors going bust and leaving a sparse grid, F1’s big boys finally conceded their hundreds of millions spending compared to the minors tens of millions was making the sport unsustainable…. READ MORE ON THIS STORY
With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
