- Practice, qualifying and the Grand Prix will be available for free in the US
- Apple has aired races on Times Square billboards, at IMAX cinemas, and simulcast on Tubi to attract new viewers
Apple will make the Formula One Austrian Grand Prix free to access for anyone who downloads Apple TV and has an Apple ID in the US.
Coverage will include the entire race weekend – practice, qualifying and the Grand Prix – for Formula One’s visit to the Red Bull Ring from 26th to 28th June.
The first and third practice sessions start in the early hours of the morning, but the race itself gets underway at a palatable 6am (PT) or 9am (ET) on the Sunday.
This forms part of continued efforts by Formula One and Apple to open up the sport to new viewers after the streaming platform acquired the rights from the start of this season for a reported US$150 million per year.
Previously, Apple agreed a deal with rival streaming giant Netflix that saw the Canadian Grand Prix aired on both platforms. Netflix’s Drive to Survive docuseries was also made available to Apple TV subscribers in the US as part of the arrangement, while the company has also staged screenings on Times Square billboards in New York, at IMAX cinemas, and through creator-led altcasts on Fox’s free ad-supported television (FAST) service Tubi.
However critics argue that the sport’s pursuit of revenue has come at the expense of exposure given ESPN is the most influential sports channel in the US.
Apple claims its viewing figures are comparable to F1’s final year on ESPN, but it is yet to publicly release any numbers. For context, Formula One averaged a record 1.32 million viewers on ESPN last season. Global figures released after the first three races of this year indicated an upward trend across the top markets.
Converting casual fans into race-watching consumers is one of motorsport’s most complex challenges, and one that Formula One knows all too well from its own Drive to Survive series, which has had significant success in driving wider interst. In fact, a study in 2023 found that 26 per cent of Drive to Survive viewers had no interest in Formula One whatsoever.
Apple will hope that wider availability will convince these peripheral fans to invest time and money into the remainder of the season, but there remains work to do to replicate the visibility Formula One enjoyed through its linear deal on ESPN.
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