Formula 1 has reported its TV, digital and attendance figures for 2021, with 108.7m viewers watching the title-deciding event in Abu Dhabi, the largest audience of the season.
Formula 1 claims that its cumulative TV audience for 2021 was 1.55bn, up four per cent from 2020, with significant gains in several major territories.
The Netherlands, home country of World Champion Max Verstappen, had a year-on-year increase of 81 per cent, with the USA (58 per cent increase) and France (48 per cent) also witnessing a rise in viewers.
The number of individuals who watched at least one race has been reported at 445m, with the largest audience coming from China, at 70.8m unique viewers. The average audience for a grand prix was 70.3m.
Formula 1 has also reported a fan attendance of 2.69 million through the 2021 campaign.
That was lower than the pre-Covid figure of 4.16m, albeit with the caveat that the bulk of events through the opening half of 2021 ran with limited or no attendance.
The US Grand Prix at Austin had the highest attendance, at 400,000 across the weekend, with Mexico (371,000) and Britain (356,000) next best – all three improved on their 2019 figures.
Formula 1 outlined that it remains ‘the fastest growing major sports league’ on social media and has 49.1m followers across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Tiktok, Snapchat, Twitch and China-based platforms.
“We had a championship battle that went to the last race with huge excitement throughout the whole championship,” said Formula 1 boss Stefano Domenicali.
“We began to welcome back our fans who are the heart and soul of our sport and although we were limited in our capacities due to Covid, it was fantastic to see 2.6 million fans in the grandstands around the world.
“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.”
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