This weekend ESPN saw another high in F1 TV ratings in comparison to last season. Though with the Championships decided, will this continue?
This weekend’s race in Mexico City might’ve lacked a bit of excitement, but that didn’t stop viewers from tuning in on ESPN. Once again F1 faced fierce competition similar to last weekend’s US Grand Prix. The Mexico City Grand Prix went up against the NASCAR Playoffs, which will always draw a huge viewership in the US. Plus, with the NFL in season and pulling huge viewership, many American F1 fans have to choose between watching their favorite team and watching the race. Though even with those hurdles present there was still an increase of 6% from last season.
That is interesting, to say the least, because going into Mexico last year neither championship had been decided. The battle between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton was reaching its peak. This season, Red Bull and Max Verstappen have already clinched the Championships, which could have led to a few opting out. But clearly, F1’s fanbase in America continues to steadily grow. Will this trend of F1 Tv Ratings continue to increase for the final two races?
Ratings Since the Belgian Grand Prix
| Race | TV Rating | Audience | 2021 Rating | 2021 Audience | Difference |
| Belgian GP | 0.57 | 1.045 M | 0.39 | 637 K | 64% |
| Dutch GP | 0.62 | 1.148 M | 0.53 | 870 K | 32% |
| Italian GP | 0.53 | 0.995 K | 0.53 | 880 K | 31% |
| Singapore GP | 0.54 | 1.036 M | 0.37 | 574 K (2019) | 80% |
| Japan GP | 0.28 | .549 K | 0.5 | 756 K (2019) | -27% |
| US GP | 0.64 | 1.113 M | 0.72 | 1.225 M | -9% |
| Mexican GP | 0.55 | 1.029 M | 0.59 | 968 K | 6% |
| Totals/Avg | 0.53 | 998 K | 0.52 | 844 K | 25% |
Data for this table can be found on this website
Flying down into Turn 1 with Charles Leclerc 🔴
Watch the top 10 onboards from Mexico City 🎥#F1 #MexicoGP #FlyEmiratesFlyBetter @emirates
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 1, 2022
What Will the Rest of the Season Look Like?
Looking ahead to the final two races of the season in Brazil and then in Abu Dhabi, can the F1 TV Ratings get close to the +25% growth we’ve seen over the last few months? Firstly looking at Brazil, the race begins at 1 PM Eastern, which is the same time as many NFL games kick off. This likely will hamper ESPN’s figures, as has been the case since Singapore’s impressive 80% increase. Abu Dhabi on the other end is more of the traditional F1 start time for many in America, starting at 8 a.m. Eastern.
Though with no championship battle going down to the final lap, it is not to be expected to see a massive increase in ratings compared to last year. While there may be a slight increase due to the increasing popularity of the sport it will probably land closer to the Italian Grand Prix’s 31%.
Another thing to keep an eye on is Red Bull’s continuing protest of SkySports following comments made by Ted Kravitz last weekend, and since Red Bull has a strong following in America, there may be some fans that decide to watch on F1TV as opposed to ESPN for the rest of the season. Of course, this is just speculation, and only time will tell what actually will happen with that storyline.
